


When Worlds Collide

by Awkward_Orca



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alfor is Alive, Allura and Lance are Siblings, Altean Lance (Voltron), Developing Relationship, Galra Keith (Voltron), Galra Shiro (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, I haven't quite decided if I'm gonna include sexy times so rating it mature for now, I'm terrible at coming up with chapter names so just won't, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Polygamy, hunk is an altean ambassador, if you want lance to do anything just say he can't or he's too scared, orphan Pidge, pidge is coran's student, shiro and keith are galra, shiro is human tho, shklance - Freeform, slavery mentions, thace is pretty chill, voltron wasn't actually created in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2018-10-17 23:19:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10604361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awkward_Orca/pseuds/Awkward_Orca
Summary: After a minor dispute over a planet, a small group of Galra are sent to Altea as a sign of goodwill. Two of the deployed soldiers are unique though, as they look more Altean than Galra. The prince, Lance, is particularly interested in them.---I will try to update this as regularly as possible but I'm coming up on finals (great time to start a fic I know) so I won't set a concrete schedule





	1. Chapter 1

“I am _not_ having galra soldiers in my castle!” Allura declared, crossing her arms and glaring at Coran from across the table in a large meeting hall.

“Princess, please-”

“C’mon sis, maybe one will be a beautiful soldier who sweeps you off your feet in a forbidden love,” Lance interrupted the attendant, dramatically holding one hand out to Allura and covering his heart with the other. “Oh princess, I cannot deny my feelings any longer, let us elope into the night sky.”

His Altean sibling glared at him while Coran sputtered. “N-now now, young majesty, no such events will unfold. This is an act of goodwill after all. I don’t like the idea of some flecilis infested galra wondering about the castle any more than you, but we need to welcome them graciously for this peace treaty to last.”

Allura opened her mouth to protest, but quickly stopped as King Alfor rose from his seat. “Allura, if you are going to rule after me, you must learn to be gracious towards those you would rather not. Only three are coming, this is not a force that could become a threat.”

The princess lowered her eyes and nodded. “Yes father,” she mumbled before bowing and turning to leave.

Lance chuckled as the door slid shut behind her. “She’ll calm down by the time they get here. She’s just suspicious ‘cause Prince Lotor tried making passes at her before everything heated up.”

King Alfor raised one eyebrow, “You may leave now,” he said, deciding to ignore that comment.

Lance grinned and bowed, leaving with a sweep of his cape.

“You can’t seriously be so calm about Galra coming here,” Allura demanded as soon as the prince was out of their father’s chambers.

“Now, now, don’t be jealous that I’m being more gracious with those I’d rather not be than you are,” he replied, using the words the King had just said to Allura

She rolled her eyes and swept away down the hallway in a huff.

Lanced smirked, turning to go his own way.

Å Å Å

Lance stood to the left of his father as they prepared to welcome the Galra embassies. “Where is the princess?” Coran whispered to Lance sharply.

He shrugged, “Still getting ready?”

Coran grumbled and waved over an attendant, telling them to go find Allura. “Don’t worry Coran, I’m sure there is a good reason that she is late,” Alfor said, squinting his eyes as a galra ship appeared in the atmosphere above.

“Great, now it’s too late. What will we tell them to explain why the heir to your crown isn’t here? We might as well be receiving them with a giant sign saying ‘welcome, you quiznaks!’ If you’ll pardon the language, your majesty,” Coran rambled, tugging at his mustache.

“Calm down, things will be fine,” the king chuckled.

The wind whipped around them as the ship began to land, tugging at their clothes and hair. Lance held up a hand to keep stray flecks of dirt from getting into his eyes. As he lowered it, the dock to the ship was opening and a group of three walked out. The leader was a normal Galra, but the two behind him looked almost- “Are those Alteans?” Coran whispered, staring at the group incredulously.

“I doubt that, they’re most likely a similar species,” Alfor reassured the other man quietly before smiling and stepping forward. “Welcome to Altea. I am King Alfor, this is my son, Lance, and my attendant Coran. Regrettably, Princess Allura got caught up and was not able to make it at this time.”

The actual Galra nodded, “Thank you for receiving us, your majesty. I am commander Thace. These are soldiers in my charge, Shiro and Keith.”

Lance tilted his head slightly to see around the commander and get a better look at the two soldiers while his father and Thace exchanged formalities. He wasn’t sure which one was Shiro and which was Keith, as Thace had made no indications. There was a taller one with a scar stretching across his nose and a portion of his hair was white, and Lance noticed his right hand was a prosthetic. The other looked more normal; besides his purple eyes, Lance thought he looked more or less average.

No, he decided. Even if the shorter one didn’t have much in the ways of distinct features, Lance wouldn’t describe him as “average.”

“Well, we hope your stay is enjoyable. Coran will show you to the chambers we’ve prepared.”

The king stepped to the side as the trio passed, the soldier with the scar over his nose making eye contact briefly with Lance and nodding respectfully.

Lance watched them go before nudging his father, “Do you think Allura will feel better knowing they don’t look full on Galra?”

“I couldn’t say. You should go find her though, then attend to your duties.”

With a sigh, the prince nodded and trotted off, thinking of where Allura might be.

Lance found the princess in one of the towers that was mainly composed of personal chambers, talking to Coran’s top student, Pidge. “You’re gonna like these galra, sis, they’re pretty cute,” Lance said, walking over.

Allura turned away from Pidge to glare at him. “I am not getting involved with any of those Galra.”

“Whatever you say,” he said with a cheeky grin. “Where were you though? Coran was pretty ticked.”

“Yes, I just heard,” she grumbled, nodding towards Pidge who flashed a smile at Lance before turning to leave. “And I’ll have you know, there was a mix up with the rooms we were going to give the galra, so I was dealing with it.”

“Oh? Someone spill water and you had to wipe it up? I have to say, that’s very noble of you, princess.”

Allura pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. “No, there were some mechanical errors. I had to change some of the room arrangements and get them properly prepared.”

“Uh huh, are they sleeping in your room now?”

This time it was Allura who smirked. “No actually. They are below yours though. I thought you would love to have them close by so you can have that big scandal you seem obsessed with.”

“Thank you for that, I’ll make sure it’s extra scandalous,” Lance responded sarcastically, glancing over his sister’s shoulder as he noticed said Galra being led on a tour below in the courtyard. “Seriously though, I think you’ll find them very interesting.”

“Would you please drop that?” Allura snapped. “I have no interest in Galra!”

“That’s the point, they don’t look like Galra,” he said with a grin.

“What?”

Lance nodded towards the large window behind his sister. “Take a look, you’ll like what you see.”

Allura rolled her eyes, but turned to look out the window, squinting her eyes to see better. “Why are Alteans wearing galra uniforms?!” She exclaimed, spinning around to march down to where they were and set them straight.

Lance stopped her quickly, “Woah now, as shocking as I’m sure this is for you, chill out and look again.”

Allura glanced at him suspiciously, moving back to the window. “I don’t see how looking again will change anything.”

“Well, you see, my dear sister, those are the Galra soldiers sent here,” Lance explained cockily, draping an arm over Allura’s shoulders. “See? That galra in front of them is Thane or something, he’s in charge of them.”

“What? Are they deserters?”

“Nope, father thinks they’re just a similar looking species.”

“From where?” She asked, twisting around to look at him.

“I dunno, why don’t you ask them?” Lance suggested, stepping away from his sister and glancing out the window.

The trio was being led into the leisure section of the castle. “Please, why don’t you do it, you’re the one who’s all obsessed,” Allura retorted, crossing her arms.

Lance rolled his eyes, “they’re on a tour, I can’t interrupt for that.”

“Oh? Are you saying you’re scared?” She teased, knowing how easy it was to get Lance to do things

“Of course not!” He exclaimed, spinning around to leave. “I’ll ask them after their tour, at dinner you’ll have your answer! Down to the very last detail, you’ll know where they piss!”

Allura’s face twisted as she watched Lance run off towards the elevator. “Tricking Lance into doing things, again?” Pidge asked from her side.

“I can’t help it, it’s just too easy,” the princess sighed with a devious smirk.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance doesn't know what he's doing

Lance leaned against an archway, waiting for the Galra guests’ tour to finish and realizing he didn’t have a clue how to ask where the two younger soldiers were from. It wasn’t exactly polite to walk up to someone and ask “hey, what species are you?” Maybe kids could get away with that, but not an Altean prince, especially when talking to someone with the Galra. He shrugged the thought away. He was used to going into conversations without a plan. The prince was proud to say that he was pretty good at winging it.

“Your highness!” The attendant leading the tour exclaimed as the group got closer, stopping in her tracks and staring at the Altean prince.

Lance gave his most winning smile, pushing off the pillar he had been leaning on. “Hey, you don’t mind if I take over, do you?” He asked.

“Um,” she glanced back at the trio she had been leading. “I’m not certain if that’s a good idea…”

“Come on,” Lance said charmingly as he stepped forward and took her hand. “They’re just going back to their suites, right? I can handle that much.”

Whether his attempt at flirting actually worked or if the Altean felt she had no choice in the matter, was unclear. But either way, Lance was now the one leading the Galra to their rooms. Being closer and less distracted, he was able to notice more details about the two non-galra Galra. Their ears were a good deal smaller, and ended in curves rather than points, it was odd. They also lacked the distinctive Altean marks around the eyes. Whatever they were, they definitely weren’t Altean. “So, do you have any plans between now and dinner?” Lance asked, linking his hands behind his head and looking back as they started to walk.

The leader, Thace, if Lance remembered correctly, quirked an eyebrow up, probably not expecting the informal tone. “King Alfor requested a conference before the evening meal,” he said, his voice calm.

Lance wasn’t sure how all of them could look so relaxed on an enemy’s world. Well, not enemies, but not exactly friends either. Uneasy acquaintances. “I can take you to my father’s meeting hall, unless you want to go back to your room and rest up a little first?”

“I do not require an escort, or a respite. Thank you, your highness,” Thace clenched his right hand over his chest briefly before turning and walking towards the central part of the castle.

As he left, he made eye contact with the soldier who had a scar across his face. The soldier nodded briskly but stayed in place with his partner. Lance watched as the commander strode away confidently. “Chummy guy,” he commented before turning his gaze to the two strangers he was left with. “You two not going?”

“We’re soldiers, mostly here for security, so not needed in meetings,” the taller one explained.

“I can relate,” Lance chuckled. Not about being a soldier, but since he was the second born it was not usually required of him to join his father in anything political, though the king often requested his presence anyway. “So what are your names again? Your boss wasn’t clear on who’s who.”

“I am Shiro,” the one with the scar said, pointing at himself, then to the soldier with a mullet. “This is Keith.”

Lance felt his eyebrows rise. “Those aren’t Galra names,” it was only after he had said this that the prince realized he might have sounded rude.

The one named Keith narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but Shiro stopped him by holding out a prosthetic arm. “Yeah,” he said shortly.

Lance waited for him to continue, but when both made it clear that they weren’t going to elaborate, Lance decided it was time to press for the answer to Allura’s -and his- question. “Where are you from then? You’re pretty obviously not Galra, or at least, not full blooded.” It was common for species to intermingle, though the Galra were an extremely proud race and saw most species as beneath them, so a mixed breed from them was unusual.

“Does it matter?” Keith asked before Shiro could stop him this time, his words sharp.

The prince shrugged, turning and starting to walk towards the castle. He hadn’t expected such a hostile response. This was probably a touchy subject then. “I guess not, it’s just Allura bet I couldn’t find out where you two are from, and if I don’t get an answer by dinner she’ll lord it over me for who knows how long.” Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to say that, but it was too late now.

“Should you be making bets on your guests?” Shiro asked while Keith rolled his eyes.

Lance paused, surprised by the gentle admonishment. He was used to only Allura or the king calling him out on things he probably shouldn’t be doing, even Hunk or Coran were reluctant to correct him. It was an odd feeling for a total stranger, one who works with the Galra at that, to say something along those lines. Lance chuckled, “You sound like my father,” he teased, brushing off his surprise. “By the way, do you know where your rooms are?”

“You made that girl leave when you didn’t even know where we were going?” Keith snapped.

“Yeah, I just couldn’t wait to get to know you two,” the prince responded smoothly, his lips lifting in a slight smile.

“Genius move.”

Lance stuttered to find a retort while Shiro said “Keith,” sharply. The grumpy soldier lowered his eyes and crossed his arms. “I apologize,” Shiro sighed, looking back to the prince. “Keith isn’t the best at… staying civil.”

“No kidding,” Lance replied after a second. “Anyway, your rooms? They’re somewhere beneath my quarters, I do know that much.”

“They are?” Keith asked skeptically, and Lance couldn’t deny the smug feeling that erupted in him from knowing something the shorter soldier didn’t.

Despite not knowing the guy for more than a few vargas, he was quickly becoming a nuisance that seemed fun to pester. “Did they not tell you? You get the honor of hearing me rock out with all the cute girls every night,” Lance lied confidently, grinning as he heard Shiro cough, though missing Keith’s eyeroll.

“The uh, the attendant said we were in section Lin?” Shiro said after regaining his composure.

“Man, you really are right below me,” Allura had not been joking. If Lance wanted to, he could probably cut a hole in his floor and fall into their room. “Follow me then! We’ll have you snuggled up in bed before you can say hopsquable!” He said, speeding up.

As Lance got closer to the soldiers’ rooms, he decided he’d try again about where the two were from. “So, are you like, not allowed to talk about where you’re from? Or do you just not want to tell me?” He asked, twisting while walking so he could look at them.

“Yes,” Keith replied deadpanned.

Shiro threw him a look. “It’s not strictly classified, I guess. It’s just an uncomfortable subject, for both of us.”

Lance hummed, nodding his head. “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to, even Allura. But if it’s still a no, okay. It’s not like I can force you. I mean, we banned torture methods ages ago,” he said.

Shiro smiled and even Keith’s lips tilted up in the slightest. “We’d appreciate that.”

“Can I still tell Allura I know, though? She won the last bet we made and I don’t want this to turn into a streak,” that would be so annoying.

“I don’t see why not,” Shiro said after sharing a glance with Keith.

“Awesome,” Lance grinned. “If I call on you, you have to back me up though, got it?”

The taller soldier laughed, which stunned the prince into momentary silence. “Alright then,” and Keith nodded grudgingly, his eyes on Shiro.

“Well, this your stop. I’ll see at dinner, don’t forget what you said!” Lance said, turning around with a wave and heading to the nearest elevator as quickly as was acceptable.

A Galra soldier’s laugh should not make his brain short circuit like that.

As the doors slid shut he watched the pair talk to each other. After Shiro said something, Keith broke into a soft smile. Lance stared even after the elevator doors were sealed shut. The two were more interesting than he originally assumed; Lance didn’t care about finding out where they were from anymore, he just wanted to get to know them better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith didn't get to say much, but don't worry, he will soon


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Keith look great in tight armor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used the Altean terms for different periods of time in dialogue, but in the narrative stuck with minutes and the like cause it's easier.

Uneasy chatter filled the dining hall. King Alfor was talking normally with Coran, so the rest of the Alteans at the long table were trying to follow his example. But the presence of three Galra uniforms was unusual, to say the least. Thace sat to the left of Allura, who was on the left of Alfor. Shiro and Keith sat next to their commander, with Lance across from him. The prince greatly preferred looking at Shiro’s or Keith’s faces rather than the cold, unreadable features of Thace.

Lance had not anticipated these seating arrangements, it made it decidedly harder to talk to Allura about their bet. He looked at his sister and Coran; both were focusing on anything other than the Galra. Coran was engaged in his conversation about propulsion theories with the king while Allura was very interested in the assorted goop and tubers on her plate. Lance sighed, swallowing the mouthful of food he had before looking at Thace. “How are you liking Altea? Are your rooms comfortable?” He asked, cringing as he realized he sounded like his father.

“The rooms are very acceptable. Altea definitely has its charms,” Thace replied, glancing at his meal.

The three Galra had been served a more meat based meal, being a mainly carnivorous species. Lance wasn’t entirely sure about Shiro and Keith, but they were most likely used to that kind of diet. None of them were complaining at least.

“Yeah, you’re just in time for the juniberries to bloom! We’ll be having the summer berry festival in a few quintants,” Lance explained excitedly.

All three Galras’ faces changed to ones of shock. Thace recovered first, and shook his head. “I forgot Alteans were prone to seasonal celebrations. It will be interesting to attend one.”

Lance grinned. “Prepare to be amazed, people come from all over for our festivals. They’re the best.”

Keith frowned, glancing at Shiro in confusion. “They have festivals?” He asked softly.

“What? You haven’t heard of our awesome festivals?” Lance gasped before Shiro could answer.

“No, Galra don’t have pointless activities,” Keith replied, casting a judgmental gaze over Lance.

Lance jerked up. “It’s not-”

“Lance,” the king interrupted sternly.

The prince dropped back into his seat, crossing his arms in annoyance. “I don’t see why you had to bring someone like that,” he mumbled, mostly to himself but Thace heard.

“The two work very well together,” the commander said simply.

Shiro was covering his eyes and shaking his head, and in the brief moment where no one was watching, Keith stuck his tongue out at the prince.

Lance felt his eyes widen at the childish act, but instantly returned the action, shoving a mouthful of food into his mouth before anyone else noticed. Keith rolled his eyes, but also continued eating.

Å Å Å

“So,” Allura said, strolling up besides Lance with a smirk as the meal finished. “Did you find out where they are from?” She asked with all the confidence one would have in a lion standing up and talking.

Lance turned from watching the three Galra head towards the exit with a smirk. “Sorry to pop your bubble, dear sister, but I did.”

Lance’s smirk only grew as Allura widened her eyes in shock and she leaned forward eagerly. “Really? Where then?”

“Ah, ah! That’s a secret, I can’t tell you.”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, disappointed but smug. “You obviously didn’t.”

“I did too! Hold on, hey Shiro! Keith!” Lance called, spinning around and running towards the trio before they were completely out of the dining hall. The soldiers he had called out to, along with Thace, paused, looking back at him. “You told me where you’re from, right?”

“Yeah,” Shiro said quickly, nodding and looking to Keith, who, after staring at Shiro uncertainly, shrugged in agreement.

Thace raised an eyebrow, but otherwise stayed silent. Allura stared, struggling to hide her surprise while also questioning the legitimacy of what she was being told. “Well, that’s that, I won, get an excuse ready to cover me next time I play hooky!” Lance said quickly before Allura could voice her doubt and sped out of the hall. He paused to the side of the entry archway, looking to the Galra as they came out. “So, you guys gonna go get sleep now? Sorry, do Galra sleep?”

“We planned on going to the training deck to practice,” Thace said, ignoring Lance’s last question.

“Want me to tag along? The controls are all in Altean.”

“I was under the impression that there was also voice command.”

Lance chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “That’s right, the settings can be hard to figure out though, I don’t mind being of some guidance.”

Thace sighed, seeing through the prince’s excuses easily. “I have no say in if you come or not.”

Lance whooped, grinning at Keith who rolled his eyes. “Commander-” the shorter Galra began.

“Do you have any objections, Keith?” Thace asked, looking back at him.

Despite his question, it was very clear that Thace didn’t want to hear the answer. Keith lowered his gaze and shook his head. “No sir.”

The commander nodded, and started walking, with Lance at his side. “You have to control what you say more, he can’t defend you as much as back on the ship,” Lance heard Shiro say softly to Keith.

“Yeah,” Keith grumbled.

The walk to the training deck was mostly silent. Lance would make small comments and try to keep up a conversation, but Thace was not the most talkative guy. When the group got to the training deck, it was empty. The tower it was located in was the living quarters for the royal family and guests, so there weren’t many people to use it.

“Okay, so do you know what level you wanna start with?” Lance asked, placing his hand on the wall and revealing a control panel.

Thace glanced back at Shiro and Keith. “Since it’s been a long day, we’ll do level 5.”

Lance balked, looking at the commander. “Uh, that’s a pretty intense level,” on the rare occasion that he did practice, he almost never did so on level 5, much less after a long day.

“My soldiers and I are capable. Put in a droid for each of us as well.”

Lance inhaled but shrugged, punching in the settings. If these Galra wanted to get their asses kicked in front of an Altean prince, who was he to argue.

Lance stepped back as the droids materialized, ready for an interesting fight. What he was not ready for was all three instantly jumping towards a droid. He was used to seeing people wait and see when the droid would attack, a common fighting technique for Alteans. Galra, however, seemed to be the kind of fighters that rushed forward right away and tried to defeat their opponent in a flurry of strength.

Keith and Thace were fighting with swords, which was unusual for Galra who preferred guns or more destructive weapons, but not for Alteans, while Shiro was fighting… with his prosthetic arm. Lance stared as the toned soldier ducked and jabbed, almost completely relying on the glowing limb. It was a technique the prince had never seen before.

The droids proved an adequate challenge, unaware of the different fighting styles. They managed to block most of the initial attacks, scanning their opponents fighting patterns to create an algorithm to counteract and advance against the blows. Because the level was higher, they fought with more aggression and focused less on the defense, though the defense was still at an advanced level.

The last time Lance had practiced level 5, he had been cramming for a physical test and for some reason thought that if he fought on one of the higher levels he’d suddenly be amazing. It had ended with him on the ground and his fighting staff out of reach within two minutes. Lance greatly preferred aiming practice.

Unlike Lance, the Galra lasted a lot longer than two minutes. Lance watched the two Galra soldiers fight, their skin-tight armor showing off developed muscles while sweat glistened on their faces. He shook his head, turning to look at Thace, who was a good deal less appealing to watch. He defeated his droid first, the metal evaporating after the small head was flung across the room with a sword. The commander stepped back, watching the other two fight.

Keith finished next, rolling to the side and running his sword through his droid as he did. The way he jumped up and spun back around, like he was expecting more, made Lance slightly concerned as to what kind of fights he was used to.

While only around ten minutes had passed, all the Galra were breathing hard thanks to their intense fighting style, which gave them as little rest as their opponents. Shiro grunted, holding his droid’s arms back with his, and affectively creating a stalemate. If he let go to try an attack, the droid would be free to make one as well. Keith fidgeted from a couple yards away, obviously wanting to go help but he probably wasn’t allowed. After a minute of holding the droid still, Shiro released his prosthetic and quickly swiped it down to cut off the droid’s arm, only pausing a second before jabbing his hand through the chest plate.

Lance stared at the three in shock. Galra weren’t known for their fighting skills for nothing. “That was awesome! I’ve never heard of someone fighting with a prosthetic arm!” He exclaimed, grinning at Shiro.

Shiro glanced down at his hand, making a fist before returning the prince’s stare and shrugging. “It’d be a waste not to use it.”

“Well, I guess, but I thought you’d use some other weapon as a first choice,” Lance said, waving his hand.

“He’s a pretty good shot,” Keith piped up like a proud mother.

Lance smirked, “Probably not better than me, I am known as Sharp Shooter after all,” which wasn’t a total lie, even if Lance was the only one to call himself that.

Shiro smiled his heart-stopping smile. “I’d love to go a round with you some time.”

“Computer,” Thace said before Lance could respond. “Three droids, level 5.”

“You’re going again?” Lance asked, a mix of surprise and worry in his tone.

“Yes,” Thace responded, shifting into a fighting stance as three identical droids materialized around them.

The trio fought another two droids each, by the end Keith and Shiro were panting and soaked in sweat, though Keith didn’t look quite as bad as Shiro. Thace, on the other hand, looked only mildly tired. Whatever species they were, they didn’t have the stamina Galra did.

The commander glanced at his soldiers. “You two may retire for the night,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face.

Keith and Shiro straightened up, clenching their fists over their chests and saying “vrepit sa” in unison before moving towards the exit. Lance had long since sat down on a bench, but he got up as the two got closer. “There are baths and showers in your quarters, so you can clean up. And you can request refreshments,” Lance told them.

“Thanks,” Keith said, passing him before Lance could figure out how to react.

“You should go to sleep too, it’s gotten late,” Shiro suggested, placing his hand on Lance’s shoulder.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Okay, dad.”

Shiro blinked, a soft blush creeping up under his scar. He obviously was not sure how to respond, and after a moment, he just patted Lance’s shoulder and started walking after Keith. “Yep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay I was able to update this on time!  
> My finals are next week though so I might miss a week again, depending on how much I procrastinate studying and my final projects.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lance tries to find out how big it is

The next morning, Lance was gently advised to sit in on a business briefing for a few of the venders wanting to sell their wares at the upcoming festival. In other words, Lance was forced to sit through several boring speeches about boring things and wasn’t allowed to leave. Although Allura did owe him a cover up, Lance wasn’t sure if she would provide it so soon after such a vague explanation of why she lost. Plus, when his father specifically requested his presence, it was best just to listen.

“Quiznak,” Lance groaned, stretching his arms over his head as he was finally able to escape.

“Language, your highness,” a voice said from his side.

He looked over to see Pidge, staring at a display screen and flipping through something that was in another language. “Like you care about swearing,” he responded, running a hand through his hair.

“No, but the king does.”

Lance froze, and he looked over his shoulder slowly, wincing as he saw his father a few feet away. “I don’t normally-” he stopped as Alfor held up a hand.

“Coran is much worse, just please refrain from using such profanities in front of officials and guests.”

Lance laughed, scratching the back of his head. “Well yeah, I don’t do that.”

Alfor nodded. “Good. You did well in that meeting, by the way, I think there could be something for you in regulating businesses.”

Pidge coughed to cover a laugh while Lance stuttered. “You, you think? I mean, I was just talking with those guys, I doubt that says much. Allura can handle all that just fine,” as much as Lance liked talking to people, he wasn’t sure how long he would be able to listen to boring business proposals just to say ‘yes, you can sell stuff here’ or ‘sure, I’ll give you some money to help out your failing business.’

“Your mother used to handle businesses, among other duties. She was very good with people, you seem to have inherited that,” Alfor explained, folding his hands behind his back.

Lance shuffled, scraping his foot against the floor. “Uh, I wouldn’t know. But I’ll put some thought into that, I guess. See you later, pops. Maybe talk to Allura about that, she likes people too, bye then!” He said while slowly backing away, before dipping into a fast bow and speeding down the hallway.

He paused after turning a corner and glanced back to see Alfor and Coran talking while Pidge waited to show Coran something. Lance sighed, rubbing his eyes. If he was gonna be involved in any royal duties he wanted to be in charge of the army or something cool. Something where he could protect worlds and people would throw parades for him. Something awesome. Definitely not regulating businesses.

Lance inhaled and straightened up, continuing down the hallway at a slower pace and waving to a few people who passed him. He decided to go to the training deck and shoot a few targets. It was calming to do things he was good at.

He made his way across the courtyard, heading to the training deck in the tower his quarters were in. While there were plenty other training decks he could use, only one had his blaster rifle. Allura always told him that he should carry it with him at all times, since it was specially made to suit him, but he didn’t see the point to carrying a weapon around. Besides, if people saw, they would probably get nervous.

When he got to the training deck, Lance groaned inwardly as he saw Keith. As Lance stepped in, Keith slashed the droid he was fighting in half, spinning around and pointing his sword at the new comer. “Chill, fuzzy,” Lance said, holding up his hands and walking past.

“I’m not fuzzy,” Keith snapped, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Sure, but you work with fuzzy aliens,” Lance countered, opening the weapons panel. “Shiro isn’t here?” He asked while pulling out his rifle, 

“He’s with Thace, going over some stuff.”

“Cool,” Lance nodded, slightly disappointed that he wouldn’t get to see that awesome fighting style.

“Computer,” Keith said, deciding the conversation was done. “Level 3.”

Lance chuckled, “Only level 3? Man, that’s a step down from last night,” he teased, tapping in settings for the shooting gallery.

Keith grunted as he swung his sword against the droid’s. “This is just,” he ducked under the droid’s next attack, “a light workout.”

Lance squeezed the trigger as a target popped up. “So you only go hard when your buddies are around? Trying to impress the commander?”

“No.”

“Shiro then?”

Keith stumbled, barely managing to block the droid’s sword. Lance cooed, shooting off two blasts in quick succession. “That’s adorable, you’ve got a crush!”

“I don’t!” Keith barked, attempting to ram his sword through the droid but it hopped out of the way and knocked him down with a sharp jab to his neck.

Keith froze, weapon spinning out of reach, staring at the blade pointed at him. Lance shot another two targets and after a second, the droid shuddered and vaporized, the simulation ending. Keith growled, jerking up onto his feet to grab sword before glaring at Lance. “You distracted me!”

“Don’t get your ears in a knot, fuzzy, it’s not good sportsmanship to blame others for messing up,” Lance responded, closing one eye and squinting briefly before shooting the last target.

“I wouldn’t have lost if you had kept your mouth shut!”

“So, you’re saying you can’t multitask? Tsk tsk, that’s not good for a soldier,” Lance smirked, resting his rifle against his hip.

“Of course I can! Better than you, probably.”

“No way! I can do anything you can way better!”

“Oh yeah? Bet you’re not as good a piolet as I am!”

“Oh, it’s on, fuzzy! I’m the best piolet here!” Which was a total lie, but Lance didn’t care.

How good could a Galra piolet be anyway? They mainly flew in space, gravity and obstacles weren’t factors they were used to dealing with.

The two stormed out of the tower and across the courtyard, with Keith slightly behind Lance as he didn’t know where the aerial hanger was. When they got there, Lance went directly to a section of small, streamlined jets. While racing was not often practiced with ships, when Alteans did race, they used those models.

The Altean that was cleaning the jets jumped as he saw Lance and Keith closing in. “Y-your highness, what are you doing here?”

“We’re going for a few laps, open a jet for him,” Lance said shortly, jerking his thumb towards Keith.

While most touch controls could be used by any species, the crafts in the hanger could only be opened by those with high enough clearance. While the Altean scrambled to get over his confusion and fill out Lance’s order, the prince climbed into a jet not surrounded by cleaning equipment and started it up. “Two laps, from here to the mountains,” Lance said as Keith slid into the piolet’s chair in the jet to his left.

The palace was surrounded on one side by a range of mountains. They weren’t extremely close, so they were a good end point for racing. “Wait, I don’t know these controls,” Keith protested, staring at the panel in front of him.

“Oh? You giving up?”

Keith narrowed his eyes at Lance before jabbing a button with a small picture of the top of the jet, which caused the top glass to materialize. “Lucky guess,” Lance grumbled, pushing the same button in his jet and pulling the control levers back so his jet started to lift off.

On clear days, the roof to the aerial hanger was always left open to let fresh air in and give the workers sunlight. Luckily, the sky was clear and bright. Once Keith’s jet got off the ground, there was a soft click as a video call was connected. This was an automatic process so that piolets could focus on getting in the air rather than making sure they were able to communicate with any other piolets. As Lance rose in the air, he glanced at the video screen. Keith was gripping the steering levers and glancing at all the other controls. It was likely he didn’t realize a video call had even started.

Lance waited until they were both out of the hanger, before shouting “Go!” and shooting forward.

He laughed at Keith’s startled face from hearing the prince’s voice suddenly, but quickly focused on flying as Keith jerked his jet into gear. Despite not understanding the controls, Keith got the hang of flying almost impossibly fast. “Know your way around a cockpit, huh?” Lance called.

From what he had seen earlier, Lance assumed Keith wasn’t the best at talking while focusing on something else. Lucky for Lance, he was great at talking no matter what else he was doing. “Shut up and focus on avoiding that tree.”

Lance yelped as he noticed said tree, jerking the controls to the side and swerving around it.

Okay, maybe he wasn’t that great at flying and talking. This wasn’t the first time he’d flown this route though, so he was pretty good at maneuvering it. The only potential problems were those in the air with them.

Large, reptilian creatures called Hekthina lived in the mountains, and once the two got close enough, they were targeted as prey. The jets were only half the size of a Hekthina, and they were not equipped with defense. The small, light frame did make them adept at avoidance, but it was not relaxing to hear an animalistic shriek and see a shadow pass over before a claw tried to grab Lance’s jet out of the air. Keith was completely silent, probably focusing or something. Lance didn’t deal with stress in silence though. “Not too much trouble for you, right?” He asked, leaning into his seat as he turned around.

“No way,” Lance glanced over to see Keith pulling into a turn as well.

He was catching up.

Lance grumbled, staring forward and pushing his jet as fast as possible. He almost screamed as his father’s voice boomed through his speaker. “Lance! Both of you come into land! Now!”

Lance groaned. He was neck and neck with Keith and almost back at the palace. He didn’t slow down however, instead jerked to a stop above the hanger. Something his neck did not thank him for, but Keith hadn’t been slowing down so he damn well wasn’t going to either.

As he landed and the top glass faded away, Lance was greeted by Coran, attempting his stern glare. Which, in all honesty, was pretty stern. Alfor was probably in the communications room, where it was easy to talk to all deployed crafts. “Your father is not happy,” Coran started as Lance’s feet hit the floor.

Lance ignored the man in front of him, tilting his head to see Keith climbing out of his jet as Thace glared in silence. He noticed Shiro standing by the entrance into the hanger, but the other soldier looked like he was going to stay out of this. “Hold that thought, Coran,” Lance interrupted, running over to the two Galra.

“Commander,” He said, stopping in between Keith and Thace. “I take full responsibility for what happened. Don’t punish Keith.”

“It is not Galra way to pass the blame,” Thace responded, crossing his arms.

“That’s not what’s happening. I goaded Keith, if you’re going to punish him at least give me the same punishment,” it was unlikely Thace would give Keith a horrible punishment if the Altean prince was also going to experience it.

“Hm,” Thace raised an eyebrow, staring Lance down. “Okay, I’ll inform you on my decision later. Keith, come with me.”

Lance sagged, exhaling in relief that his attempt at covering for Keith worked in some way. “You didn’t have to do that,” Keith grumbled, stepping past him.

“I know, I must be going crazy.”

The other boy paused, glancing back at him before smiling slightly. “Probably.”

Lance grinned, freezing as he heard Coran cough from behind him. That’s right, he still had to deal with his father and his own punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I somehow survived finals, yay, so I'll try to update this once a week on Wednesdays!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro is somehow the Dad Friend™, has a crush, and invisible all at the same time

After sitting through a lecture of responsibility and knowing when he should or shouldn’t do something, Lance was surprised to hear that all he had to do was apologize to the Alteans whose work he had disturbed. He was certain the only reason he had gotten off so lightly was thanks to Coran, who had told Alfor what Lance had said to Thace.

“I don’t want to hear about any more quarrels with the Galra, especially Keith,” Alfor finished, crossing his arms.

Lance nodded, staring at his feet. This was easily one of the top ten lectures his father had given him. Lance suspected that there wouldn’t have been such a fuss if he had done the same with another Altean, and not a visitor of goodwill from a species they were on uneasy terms with.

Alfor sighed, waving a hand. “You may go now, have lunch and then talk to Commander Thace.”

“Thank you, sorry again,” Lance said, bowing and leaving.

“That was a long time, father was really that mad?” Allura asked as the door slid shut behind him.

Lance chuckled. “You have no idea, he kept going on about how a prince should know better than to engage in ‘petty squabbles’ and that I should have at least told someone so they could’ve stopped me and prevented this.”

“That’s what you get for being petty and squabbling,” Allura said, somehow mocking their father’s word choice and pulling the annoying “serves you right” tone at the same time.

“I don’t need another lecture, _highness_. Why are you here anyway? Come to gloat?”

“No, I just thought you’d like to know that Hunk landed.”

Lance instantly brightened up, grinning. “Did he just land? Where he is?”

“Getting lunch. Apparently there weren’t any spices or additions to the food on his ship.”

“Oh man, he won’t let that go. I’ll see you later!” Lance called, heading down the hallway.

He wasn’t sure which dining hall Hunk would be in, but he assumed it would be the one closest to the landing bay. So that’s where he went. His guess was right, Hunk was seated in the middle of the long table that had a few others eating around it. “Hey big guy!” Lance said, holding his arms open as he got closer.

Hunk raised his head, a grin breaking across his face. “Hey highness,” he stood up, scooping Lance into a big hug.

“How are you? I heard you had some problems with trip back,” Lance teased, elbowing his friend lightly as he was set back down.

“Man, you have no idea. Shay gave me some food for the road but after I ate that I was left with the tasteless goo. Cave bugs are way more preferable, and I don’t even like bugs,” the prince’s friend sighed, sitting down.

“Yes, how is Shay?” Lance grinned, leaning against Hunk who blushed and shoved a spoonful of goo into his mouth.

“She’s great, I mean, she’s doing great, healthy, strong, you know.”

“Have you at least tried to court her yet? You’ve got it bad, dude.”

Hunk groaned, burying his face in his hands. Lance chuckled, patting his shoulder and standing up. “Hang in there, buddy. I’ll help you out after I get some food, one tick.”

Å Å Å

Keith crossed his arms and stared at the ground, leaning against the wall as Thace and the King discussed what group punishment he would have to do with the prince. While he was grateful that Lance took the blunt of the rebuke, he couldn’t say he was thrilled to spend more time with him, since that was what got Keith in this situation after all.

“Thace won’t be too hard on you,” Shiro said from Keith’s left.

“Yeah,” Keith grunted, not sure if he was in for another lecture.

Thace and Shiro liked to team up against him, after one would talk his ear off the other would come in and criticize him on some other related thing.

“Why do you get so worked up around the prince?” Shiro asked after a minute.

“Dunno,” Keith sighed, getting ready for a second speech.

His partner hummed, tapping his metal fingers against the wall. “I can understand wanting his attention,” he started, causing Keith to choke on air. “But we’re not here for pleasure, so try not to get too distracted. If you must though, don’t cause any trouble like today at least.”

“I’m not interested in that guy, Shiro!” Keith managed to gasp; that was the last thing he expected to hear.

Shiro looked at him, surprised and not seeming to fully believe him. “Okay, I just wanted to make sure,” he paused, looking up at the ceiling. “There’s no need to feel embarrassed, like I said, it’d be completely understandable.”

Keith shook his head, covering his face. He didn’t respond to Shiro’s last comment, his chest clenching slightly. Sure, Lance was a prince, and he wasn’t unattractive, but he was arrogant and talked too much. That wasn’t really Shiro’s type, right?

Before Keith could put much more thought into the matter, the doors slid open as Thace and the King walked out.

Å Å Å

“I can’t believe I have to clean all of these with you, of all people,” Lance grumbled, reaching over to dunk the sponge he had into the bucket that Keith was holding on the other side of the jet they were cleaning. “Can’t you leave that closer to the middle? It’s hard to reach.”

“Just stretch, and stop whining.”

“That’s right, I forgot your arms are too short to reach it if it was any further,” Lance smirked and pretended to ignore Keith’s scowl.

Alfor and the Commander had decided that Keith and Lance would have to clean all the jets in the hangar, and repair the ones that they had flown from the scratches the Hekthina had left. According to Pidge, they had gotten off very light. And after hearing the things Coran had made Pidge do, Lance had to agree. But that didn’t mean he had to like this job. Even after trying to be nice, Keith was being just as standoffish as before.

“So, did the Commander chew you out too?” Lance asked as a few minutes of scrubbing bubbly water against the jet passed in silence.

“Yeah,” Keith said after a moment.

Lance chuckled. “Does he give long rants too? My dad’s the worst, he once talked to me for a full varga after I replaced Allura’s hair tonics with hair reducing oils.”

“Why would you do that?”

“She put pricklebugs in my bed,” Lance shrugged. “It was a while ago though, but I’ll never forget how stiff my legs got. I think that was the last time either of us pulled a prank like that on each other.”

Keith squinted, not sure why children would do things like that. “Thace doesn’t talk for too long,” he said eventually. “Shiro usually lectures me too though.”

Lance tilted his head, thinking about that new piece of information. “He seems like the kind who would. So, you like guys who lecture you?” Lance grinned, covering his face as Keith jerked his sponge towards the prince, sprinkling him with water.

“No! That’s not all he does,” Keith’s face flushed. “And I don’t like him!”

“Please, you totally do. I can spot a crush a mile away.”

“You couldn’t recognize a crush if you had one yourself,” Keith snapped. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you were the one interested in Shiro, you stare at him like he’s some gem every time he smiles.”

“At least I don’t ogle him whenever he’s in the room, unlike _someone_.”

“Boys!” Pidge’s voice barked from where they were sitting nearby. “The sooner you finish cleaning, the sooner you can decide who has the hots for Shiro more.”

The two shut up, their faces heating up as they narrowed their eyes at each other. Lance had forgotten that Coran had given Pidge the task of making sure he and Keith didn’t get into another fight and leave their work. Pidge was the least happy about this scenario. Apparently, they were overseeing a good portion of the festival planning and this limited what they could do in terms of preparation.

“If you want help courting him, I don’t mind,” Lance said, dunking his sponge again.

“Oh my god! Can’t you drop it?” Keith groaned. “Why would you do that, anyway?” He asked after a second, staring intently at the spot he was scrubbing.

“I am nothing if not a good wingman,” Lance declared confidently. “I doubt you’re very good at being romantic, and I don’t mind, I’m already helping my buddy Hunk. I’m pretty great at this kinda thing, if I do say so myself,” he ignored Pidge’s amused snort.

Keith eyed him suspiciously before shaking his head suddenly. “Shiro is like a brother to me, no more, no less.”

“Man, you’re stubborn. Alteans are known for their romantic traditions, I’m certain I can help.”

“What kind of traditions?” Keith glanced away, annoyed at Lance’s smirk. “Just for uh, cultural appreciation.”

Lance rolled his eyes but didn’t comment on the term Keith used. “Well, my personal favorite is smooth talking, compliments and the like. My mother won my father over with that and gifts. There’s also taking them out to places with special meanings, that’s more for someone you’re already courting or at least close to. Some people just flat out confess, if done in the right setting, that can go really well.”

Keith frowned, staring at the jet. “That’s very different from Galra mat- er, courting methods.”

“What are those like? You could throw in a sexy growl if that’s a part of it, since he’s used to Galra ways.”

Keith glared. “Normally, they just ask if they want to mate,” Lance coughed, shocked by Keith’s wording. “And fights will sometimes happen, or shows of power.”

While Lance was fully aware of what being in a relationship entailed, he was not used to those activities being mentioned so blatantly. Even he didn’t make too many innuendos. It just wasn’t a topic Alteans, especially royalty, brought up.

This time it was Keith smirking. “Is mating an uncomfortable subject, your majesty?”

That was the first time Keith had referred to Lance as royalty, and the prince did not care for it. “No- ug, kinda,” Lance looked up at the ceiling, irritated that his cheeks were warm. “It’s just, not really talked about outside of education, you know?”

“So, you’re inexperienced then? I don’t think you should be offering love advice if you can’t even hear the word sex without turning into a flustered mess.”

“I don’t need that kinda experience! I still know more than you!”

Keith snorted, rolling his eyes. “Yeah right, prove it. How many people have you kissed, actually kissed, not on the cheek or family members.”

Lance glared at Keith, flicking his sponge at the other boy instead of answering. Keith flinched, returning the action while running his fingers through his hair to get any suds out. The two narrowed their eyes at each other, completely still for a brief moment before throwing their sponges across the jet. Keith’s hit Lance’s face while Lance’s clung to Keith’s shoulder. The Altean grunted, splashing whatever excess water was on the jet against Keith, grinning in triumph as he rubbed his eyes clear and saw a damp, disgruntled face glaring at him. The victory was short lived though, as Keith doused the sponge he had before chucking it at Lance, where it landed on his chest with a loud thwap.

“How hard is it just to clean some jets?!” Pidge shouted, interrupting the two who froze at the heated voice.

“He started-” Keith began but snapped his mouth shut at Pidge’s glare.

Lance slowly pushed one of the two sponges he had across to Keith, who took it with a glance up at him. Lance grinned, chuckling softly and Keith looked at Pidge before giggling as well.

The mechanic rolled their eyes, ignoring the two boys’ giggle fest. As long as they were working and not being too distracting, Pidge didn’t care what Lance and Keith did. They continued tinkering with their project until Hunk dropped down next to them suddenly. “Watch it!” Pidge squeaked, pulling the wires so they were nested closer and so Hunk wouldn’t disturb them.

“Sorry, what are you doing?”

“Just last minute festival prep- don’t touch those!”

Hunk recoiled his hand from a small junction box. “Why aren’t you in your room? You usually work there.”

Pidge shoved their thumb in Lance and Keith’s direction. “Coran’s making me watch them so they actually do their job and don’t run off to make out or something.”

Lance made a noise of disgust and protested what Pidge said, but they ignored him. Hunk paused from untangling some wire to glance at the two. “Is that one of the Galra?”

“Yeah, Keith. His royal competitive quiznack and Keith don’t seem to understand the term ‘play nice’- stop it! Don’t unplug that!”

Hunk pouted, placing his hands in his lap for a second before moving to touch something else and being slapped away by Pidge. “Will that interfere with tomorrow? Lance mentioned that the Galra soldiers might join us for a bit since they’ve never been to a festival. Can you believe that? Imagine never going to a fair or festival.”

“Maybe,” Pidge ignored their friend’s tangent. “I probably won’t be able to hang out with you guys as much cause of all this stuff I’m handling. Maybe you can give Lance some pointers on dating another species.”

While the prince in question did not hear the comment as he was engaged in another conversation with Keith, Hunk turned beet red. “I’m not dating her! We’re just good friends.”

“Fine, pointers on how to deal with a crush on another species then.”

“Stop talking about us!” Lance piped up suddenly.

“Are you admitting you have a crush on a member of another species?” Pidge asked, twisting around to face Lance.

“No!”

“Then this conversation obviously isn’t about you, focus on your job!”

“Oh, he totally has a crush,” Hunk whispered, leaning closer to Pidge.

“I know right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seriously, I am sorry for how little love Shiro got these past two chapters. It's starting to feel like a klance fic, so he'll be back soon.
> 
> Also, I saw some other writers doing this, so my tumblr is the-awkward-orca if you wanna send me any asks about this. I've planned out a ton of details that probably won't ever need to be mentioned so it'd be fun to talk about it and answer some questions.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith dreams of joining the circus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, due to majority vote, a 5,951word long monster chapter

Lance splashed a handful of water onto his face, rubbing off the face mask he had applied an hour ago. Normally he only used those at night or while sleeping, but considering that today was special, he decided his skin should be glowing twice as bright as usual. And after the stress of cleaning seven jets and repairing scratches on two the day before, Lance was pretty sure his skin needed this extra boost, even if he was late for breakfast. He ran a thumb over one of his eyebrows, trying to decide if he really needed to neaten them up and if he had the time to do so. He glanced at the clock resting on the counter nearby, he was already late, so he’d have to let them be for now. He flashed a smile at his reflection briefly to make sure his teeth were just as sparkling as his face before rushing out of the room. Hopefully his father wouldn’t say anything about his tardiness.

“You look nice today,” Shiro commented as Lance pulled out his seat in the dining hall.

Lance smirked and puffed up his chest, sweeping his cape to the side while sitting down. “Don’t I? It’s been a while since you’ve seen me in my formal clothes,” the last time had been when the three first landed.

Shiro lifted his eyebrows in a bemused smile, “Really? It doesn’t feel that long ago.”

Lance paused, mentally going over how many days had passed. Before he could express his shock at realizing it had only been three days since the Galra’s arrival, Keith spoke up. “Wait, when did he ever put any effort into his appearance?”

Lance gasped in false shock. “I _always_ put effort into how I look, how could you not notice what I was wearing? I make great eye candy in this, you totally would have been staring-”

Keith’s eyes widened and he looked down at the table hurriedly. “I was joking, man,” he interrupted, while Shiro laughed.

“Of course we remember, you look just as good now as you did then,” the taller soldier said, patting Keith’s shoulder.

Thace cleared his throat. “Why don’t you three eat? I imagine the prince has duties he needs to attend to, with the summer berry festival starting today.”

Lance chuckled, waving his hand. “Not really, at least nothing special. Anyone who trusted me with festival tasks would be an idiot,” he said easily.

Keith squinted his eyes while Shiro’s face softened, but Lance turned his focus to his plate. “Besides, it starts at midday, there’s a few vargas left of free time.”

“Why does it start in the middle of the day?” Keith asked.

“So the vendors with smaller stalls can set up and the larger attractions can be double checked,” Allura answered before Lance could, which he didn’t really mind as he wasn’t certain on the reasons.

Thace nodded, and began asking for more details on the festival. As much as he would’ve liked to join in, if Lance didn’t hurry to finish his food he would be the last one in the hall.

“Hey,” Shiro said as Lance walked out of the dining hall.

Lance jumped as he almost ran into the taller man, stumbling back. Shiro shot out his hand out to stop Lance from falling, wincing. “Sorry, we just wanted to talk.”

After recovering from the shock of almost slamming into one of the most toned chests he had ever seen, Lance blinked and raised his gaze to Shiro’s face. “Yeah? 

“Well, Thace gave us the day off for the festival, so we were thinking you could show us around the festival grounds.”

Lance leaned to the side, seeing Keith leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and tapping his fingers. Either he really didn’t want to do this or Shiro had something else planned that Keith wasn’t in favor of. Lance grinned as he straightened up. “I would love to,” Lance lifted his hand like a tour guide. “Group royal, moving out!”

Shiro smiled and Keith lifted his mouth slightly as well, and they followed Lance as he led the way outside and towards the fair grounds. On their walk, they had to step to the side repeatedly as groups ran by, either carrying things or going to find something or someone. “It’s busy,” Keith commented.

“Oh yeah, this is one of our biggest events, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t,” Lance agreed. “Alright! So, here’s the entrance, if you look to your left, you’ll see a pair of poles holding the welcome banner up. If you look your right, you’ll see the information tent, and if you look to your tour guide, you’ll see a cute tush.”

Shiro coughed while Keith glanced away quickly and Lance smirked. “Where do you guys wanna go first? There’s a race track, we might be able to see some of the k’thelin, we could go look at the flower displays, see if any games are open, it’s your choice.”

“That vendor looks like he’s having trouble with his stall,” Shiro said, pointing to an alien struggling to put up the cover of his stall. “Why don’t we go help?”

“Really?” the prince asked, looking at him and Keith. “Okay, I thought you’d wanna see some more interesting things but that sounds good too,” he shrugged, starting off towards the vendor.

“Hey,” Lance said, smiling as they got closer. “Need some help with that?”

The alien, a smaller race covered with bumpy skin, jumped, barely managing to grab the pole he had been holding before it fell. “Y-your highness!” He squeaked, “What, uh, what do you mean?”

Shiro stepped forward, gesturing to the stall. “We can help you get this up, if you want.”

“N-no, I could never- uh, not to be rude, I-I wouldn’t want to uh, trouble you three,” The alien stuttered, glancing around.

Lance grabbed the pole the alien was hugging onto like it was a life preserver. “You need to get all four of these up and the tarp on, right?”

The alien paused, not sure if putting the royal family to work was ruder than denying the offered help. After a moment, he nodded quickly and scooted back to the other two poles he hadn’t put up yet, handing them to Shiro and Keith and explaining how to set everything up.

Helping the alien, who they learned was named Kak, didn’t take long. Lance honestly wasn’t sure how he originally planned to get the tarp on top of the poles, since it had to be pulled taunt between all four and Kak was hardly tall enough to reach halfway up one of the poles. Once done with the stall, they carried a few crates of his merchandise underneath it and set up the tables. After that, Kak insisted that three had done more than enough and that they should go on and enjoy the festival before it started and got crowded.

Lance grinned, running a hand through his hair briefly and looking back at Shiro and Keith. “Well, that was fun! What do you guys wanna do next?”

Keith lifted a hand in the direction of hunched, withered old alien shuffling back and forth between her cart and a small transport ship that seemed packed full of food. “We could help her?”

“Are you guys trying to win a good Samaritan award?” Lance asked with a laugh, already heading towards the cart.

Despite his words, Lance was glad he could do something to help out with the festival. He wasn’t good enough with technology to help with the rides and events and he wasn’t very good at planning or organization either, so helping with the schedule would be ruinous. Even if this was insignificant in the grand scheme of things, he liked the idea of going around and helping who he could.

“Anything we can do to help?” Lance asked as they approached the cart.

The old lady paused, a tray stacked with cans in her claws, and eyed the three standing in front of her. “Carry these,” she said after a moment, dumping the tray into Lance’s arms. “You two strong boys, grab boxes out of my ship, bring them here,” she ordered.

“Uh, where should I-”

“There, highness,” she interrupted, pointing to a shelf in her cart that was half filled with similar looking cans. “Go, carry food now.”

Lance rushed off to the ship, parked a good distance away. Even though he wasn’t the best at mechanics, he could tell the lady’s ship was old and needed some repairs. Maybe he could ask Hunk or Pidge to take a look at it later. Lance almost froze while picking up a large crate as he remembered that he forgot to tell his two friends he would meet them at the fair rather than their normal spot. “Watch it!” Keith snapped as Lance misstepped and almost fell backwards on him.

Lance winced, Keith’s shoulder digging into his back. The shorter boy’s arms were full, so to break Lance’s fall he had stepped back to “catch” Lance with his back. “Why are your shoulders so bony?” Lance grumbled, straightening up quickly and rolling his shoulders. “Are you eating enough?”

“Worry more about remembering how to walk than my diet,” Keith responding loftily, striding back towards the cart.

“Why don’t you worry about your… face!” Lance retorted, speeding up to try and pass him.

“No fighting,” Shiro reminded, already on his way back for another trip.

The next few hours passed similarly, with the three of them moving from vendor to vendor, offering help. By the time they stopped, the festival had been open for an hour, and the only reason they did stop was because they ran into Hunk and Pidge while looking for someone else to help.

“Highness!” Pidge shouted from Hunk’s shoulders, waving a hand from the other side of the path they were on.

“Where were you? Pidge and I waited for like, thirty dobashes!” Hunk asked while crossing over to them.

“Ah, sorry man,” Lance apologized, stealing one of the red crisps Hunk had a cup of. “We were busy helping out some vendors.”

“Did you get in trouble with the King again?” Pidge asked, shading their eyes and looking around for something.

“Nah, it was our choice. It’s been really fun! This old Grelin gave us tickets that’ll get us a free meal at her cart, and there was a set of triplets that were totally into Shiro,” Lance went on, nudging Shiro with his elbow, who shook his head while Keith rolled his eyes.

“I think they were more interested in Keith,” Shiro responded, smiling at the boy in question cheekily.

Keith stuttered, not expecting the sudden attention. “Have you seen the Balmera booth? They’re carving rocks however you want and some are juggling! It’s so cool,” Hunk said, saving Keith from needing to respond and grinning as he pulled out a small stone lion statue. “Look! Shay’s grandmother was there and said this suited me, she gave me a discount too!”

“She just expects grandkids as compensation,” Pidge said.

“Is Shay here? I have yet to meet your beloved,” Lance winked, laughing while Hunk covered his red face.

“She couldn’t-”

“There!” Pidge shouted suddenly, jabbing their finger at something only they could see.

“Wait- really? You’re sure?” Hunk asked, looking up at the small Altean on his shoulders.

“Of course I’m sure! Come on! Go west till you get to an intersection, then turn right!”

“What are you guys looking for?” Lance called, running after Hunk as he jogged away and glancing back to make sure Keith and Shiro were following as well.

“The churro stand, it wasn’t where it normally is and I was afraid they weren’t here this time,” Pidge said, holding onto Hunk’s headband for balance.

“The what stand?” Keith asked, not sure why they were suddenly running.

“Churro! They’re these amazing sticks of fried dough with sugary stuff on them, I’ve never seen them anywhere else but they’re godly,” Lance explained between breathes.

“They sound gross.”

“You’ll change your mind after you have one, don’t worry.”

Following Pidge’s directions, the group made their way to the infamous stand. There was an extensive line stretching down from it, and they quickly got a spot at the end. “I hope they still have some by the time we get up there,” Pidged worried, chewing on their nails.

“Can’t Lance just ignore the line? Since he’s a prince?” Keith asked, leaning forward to catch his breath after the impromptu sprint.

Lance looked at him, alarmed. “You’re joking.”

Keith met Lance’s gaze, confused and shook his head. “Galra royalty usually do things like that,” Shiro cut in, resting his hand on Keith’s back.

“Yeah, if the prince tried that he’d get in huge trouble. The Altean royals are supposed to follow the rules just like everyone else,” Pidge said while climbing down Hunk.

Lance nodded, trying not to imagine what his father and Allura would say to him. “What do we do in the meantime then?” Keith glanced around.

“You could buy a cool cup of Unaloo juice,” the vendor of the stall they were stopped in front of suggested with a smooth smile, causing all of them to jump. “You are here after all, and I wouldn’t want a couple of nice kids like yourself getting dehydrated.”

Lance tapped his chin, glancing at the menu hanging from the top of the stall. “How much for a round of vaga juice?”

The Unaloo hummed, crossing his four arms and looking Lance up and down. “I can give you a special discount, it’d only be half of your childhood memorabilia.”

“Nope,” Hunk said, turning and walking across to the row of stalls on the other side of the dirt road.

He dropped a handful of coins down at another drink stand and came back with five cups of fizzling juice. “These are much better, and cheaper,” he passed out the cups with a triumphant smirk at the vendor next to them, who narrowed his eyes and turned away.

Shiro jumped, staring down at his cup with wide eyes after taking a sip. “It’s popping!” He said at the same time as Keith coughed and almost dropped his cup.

“What is this?!”

“Fiz,” Lanced laughed, grinning at the two faces of shock and betrayal.

“I don’t trust it,” Keith grumbled, shoving his cup into Lance’s free hand.

“More for me,” the prince hummed, downing his first cup and suddenly doubling over, coughing from swallowing too much.

“See? You can’t trust it!” Keith shouted at the same time as Shiro asked “Are you alright?” worriedly and stepped closer, placing a hand on Lance’s back.

Lance nodded, covering his mouth while he continued to cough. “I’m-” more coughing, “I’m alright.”

“No offense, highness, but I think knowing how to drink is something you should know for important business meetings,” Pidge commented, adjusting their glasses to get a better look at the menu the next stall over.

Lance glared at them, a half-hearted cough forcing its way out of his mouth.

“I think I like this,” Shiro declared, squinting as his cup critically.

“Great, have Keith’s then.”

“No, it’s not safe, here,” Keith grabbed his cup from Lance’s hand and glanced around, passing it onto a small child passing by. “Have some fiz.”

“So you won’t let Shiro drink any cause it’s not ‘trustworthy’ but you’ll give it to a child you don’t know?” Hunk asked, crossing his arms.

Keith shrugged, not defending his actions in any way.

The line moved forward suddenly, enough to put the group in front of the next stall. As the line kept moving along, the five would buy a small snack from whatever vendor was nearby and reasonable. Keith did not seem to have the best luck with these new foods. When trying to eat a kind of shellfish, he dropped the shell into his mouth and almost swallowed it along with the meat. At one cart, Lance very nearly convinced him that the fruit being sold could only be eaten by Alteans because of certain chemicals, but if Keith really wanted to, the fruit could be shared in a way similar to birds feeding their young. Hunk outed Lance before anything started, thankfully. When they all got shaved ice, Keith got a brain freeze and was convinced that he had been poisoned for a solid five minutes. At the stall next to their destination, he attempted to pick up a candy by the food part, and not the stick that was intended to be held. After glaring into the distance as everyone laughed and deciding he didn’t trust any of the food at the fair, Hunk pulled out some napkins to wipe the sugar coating off his hands.

“Finally,” Pidge sighed, slamming down a handful of coins. “I need six churros, stat.”

The vendor blinked their large circular eye, before nodding and turning around to pluck six sticks of sugary fried dough from a stack just set out.

“Oh my god I don’t think I could be any happier,” they sighed blissfully after taking a bite, holding the extra churro they’d bought close to their chest protectively.

“I dunno, you look pretty happy when you get a new piece of fancy equipment,” Lance pointed out, glancing over at Shiro as he tried to convince Keith that there was nothing to fear by eating the churro he had been given.

“Are you sure I won’t get cold brain or whatever the hell that was before?”

“Yes.”

“Are you _sure_ though? How can you be sure? You haven’t tried yours yet!”

Lance smirked and slid closer, slowly reaching over to steal the churro from Keith’s hand while he was focused on arguing with Shiro. Keith noticed out of the corner of his eye though and snatched his hand away, glaring at Lance while taking a large bite out of the snack. “Woah,” he muttered, distracted by the taste. “That’s really good.”

Shiro made a face while chewing his first bite, looking down skeptically. “I think it’s too sweet,” he glanced over at Keith’s hopeful eyes and chuckled, handing him the churro. “Knock yourself out.”

“Where to next?” Hunk asked, looking down at Pidge who shrugged.

“I got what I wanted, so I don’t care.”

“We should go to the games!” Lance suggested loudly, coughing and taking a bite of his churro when everyone looked at him. “I mean, there’s always something to do there.”

“Lance, last summer you started crying over the quillin grab,” Hunk pointed out.

“I told you, that was cause I’d had too much nunvil!”

“What kind of games?” Shiro asked warily.

Lance looked at him, surprised. “What kind? You know, ring toss, bobbing for grifs, reflective mazes, target shooting?”

Shiro blinked. “That sounds fun actually.”

“Well _duh_ , what were you thinking of?”

“Uh, gladiator games,” Shiro responded, scratching the back of his head. “Galra don’t really have things like this.”

Hunk stuttered, tapping his fingers together. “Oh man, sorry, that doesn’t sound so fun.”

“We just hafta show you a good time then!” Lance announced, grabbing Shiro and Keith and dragging them along. “You have no idea what you’re in for!”

“When he says it like that, I get worried about what kind of events are in a festival,” Keith mumbled to Shiro, who smiled and nodded.

The first stall they saw – once finding a way out of the food section – was a fire dancer. While most of them slowed down in passing, there wasn’t any consideration of stopping until Shiro realized that Keith had disappeared from his side. After a moment of panic, he spotted his partner a few feet back staring in awe at the Altean juggling flaming knives. “Shiro?” Lance asked, pausing and tugging on Hunk to do the same.

Shiro narrowed his eyes, glancing between Keith and the performer before grabbing Keith’s collar and pulling him back into walking. “No.”

Further down, there was a small stall with racing lanes for fuzzy floating animals and a small betting pool. Pidge liked them, but it was mainly because of Shiro that they stopped to watch. “They’re so small,” the taller soldier whispered, his eyes practically sparkling.

“No,” Keith said sternly, crossing his arms.

“But they’re tiny, I’m sure Thace wouldn’t-”

“Remember what happened last time? No.”

Lance squinted, staring at the two during this exchange. “Shiro, have you… brought animals home before?”

Shiro pressed his lips together and stared at the ground awkwardly, scuffing his toes against the dirt. “Let’s not pry, this seems sensitive,” Hunk interjected, tugging Lance’s arm.

“What? No! Let’s absolutely pry!” Lance protested despite his friend picking him up and moving on.

With a sidelong glance at the creatures just finishing their race, Shiro grudgingly followed with Keith.

“What’s the point of this?” Keith asked, looking over Lance’s shoulder as he tossed a small plastic ring into a sea of glass containers.

Lance didn’t respond right away, staring as the ring spun on the edge of a bottle top. He groaned, dropping his head back as the ring fell. “To get the ring onto one of the bottles,” He grumbled, glancing at the two who hadn’t gotten any rings. “Wanna try?”

Keith glanced at Shiro before they both nodded and Lance gave each two rings. Keith missed both times, and glared at the array of bottles. “How much for more?”

“Don’t waste your money, these things are usually designed to fail,” Pidge said, on Hunk’s shoulders once again, and tossed a ring of their own.

With the extra height, their aim was almost perfect and out of the seven rings they’d already tossed, Pidge had only missed one. The alien running the game was less than pleased about this set up, but when she tried to stop the two, Hunk pointed out that height discrimination was no way to keep costumers coming. So, they managed to get away with it.

With Shiro’s first attempt, he used his prosthetic arm and accidently threw the ring too hard so that it broke two bottles. “Sorry,” he winced, quickly handing his other ring to Keith who promptly chucked it at a bottle but missed, again.

“You’re not aiming,” Lance said, stepping behind Keith and leaning in so their heads were pressed against one another’s.

“What are-”

“Shush. Look, you wanna aim for the red ones, those get you a prize, and be gentle with your throw. You throw knives, so think of it like that,” Lance explained, moving Keith’s hand to show the right motion.

Keith frowned, staring at the bottles before nodding. Lance grinned and gave him the last ring he had bought. After a second of moving his hand back and forth, Keith narrowed his eyes and tossed the ring, nearly shouting in triumph as the ring hooked neatly around the top of a red bottle. “Awesome!” Lance punched Keith’s shoulder lightly. “Who do you thank now?”

“My aim,” he said smugly.

“You-”

“Hey kid, what prize do you want?” The vendor cut in, pointing to a row of small stuffed toys.

“Uh,” Keith stared at his choices, not having thought that far ahead.

“That one,” Lance said, pointing to a small version of the racing creatures from before that Shiro had liked.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked as Lance shoved the prize into his hands.

“I said I’d help you with your courting, so give this to the gorgeous man,” Lance whispered, turning around quickly to tug at Pidge’s foot and throw off their aim.

Keith stiffened, his face heating up slightly, but he stepped over to Shiro anyway, who had almost definitely heard the short exchange. “Here,” Keith mumbled, holding up the stuffed toy.

Shiro stared at the offered gift, not noticing the soft blush creeping up his cheeks. “Just, take it,” Keith said, slightly louder but still just as awkward, and pushed the toy into Shiro’s hand.

“There’s a reflective maze!” Lance shrieked suddenly, spotting a large sign nearby.

Hunk groaned. “Do we have to? I always hurt my nose there.”

“Don’t be a waltek, it’ll be awesome!” The prince giggled, already running towards the makeshift building.

Despite Hunk’s protests and Keith’s wariness, they all ended up inside the maze of screens that acted as mirrors without the worry of fingerprints, or claw marks, or any other potential markings. “Ow,” Shiro mumbled as he immediately walked into one of said screens and rubbed his nose.

“See? That’s what I was talking about!” Hunk exclaimed, pointing at Shiro before shouting ow as he ran into a wall as well.

Getting through the maze took a good amount of time, and it didn’t help that everyone kept getting separated. By the time the exit was found, Shiro and Hunk were sporting bright red noses. “You guys look like nerlishes,” Lance giggled.

“I will always be amazed at how easily you’re able to maneuver through those,” Pidge sighed, peering at their glasses to check for smudges or cracks.

They jumped suddenly, pulling out a communicator and groaning as they read a message. “Quiznak, someone screwed up the deployment rails. Hunk, can you come help?” Without waiting for a response, Pidge started jogging away.

“Man,” Hunk grumbled. “See you guys later, we should meet up again for the fireworks!” he called as he ran after Pidge.

“Fireworks? Are there gonna be more knives on fire?” Keith asked hopefully.

“You’ve never- no of course not,” Lance sighed, rolling his eyes. “No, there aren’t any knives, you’re gonna love what does happen though.”

“What? What happens?” Keith asked, glaring and chasing Lance as he ran away instead of answering.

Shiro chuckled, following and making sure they didn’t get too far apart. Lance skidded to a halt in front of shooting game, Keith smacking into his back. “Yes! Who wants to see me live up to my name, Sharp Shooter?” Lance asked, glancing back confidently.

“There’s no way that’s your nickname,” Keith crossed his arms.

“You wanna bet?”

“No bets, guys, that got you in trouble last time,” Shiro interjected as he caught up.

Keith pouted, glancing up at his partner. “Fine, you do it then,” he said suddenly, smiling slyly.

“What?” Shiro blinked, taken aback.

“You’re a good shot, see who can get the best score.”

“Why would I go against Shiro?” Lance asked.

“You don’t wanna? Scared you’ll lose?” Keith goaded, smirking.

“Hell no! Let’s do this, a round for me and my friend,” the prince snapped, smacking a handful of money down in front of the Altean running the booth. “Winner gets a kiss,” he teased.

Keith sputtered, trying to come up with a response but Lance was already hefting the fake blaster up against his shoulder.

Even with the misaligned scope, Lance managed to hit the center of four of the five targets. Shiro was not as good. Not only was the rifle in no way similar to Galra design, but he hadn’t practiced in a while either. Along with the tilted scope, he was surprised he got two of the target centers.

“Ha! Suck it, fuzzlord!”

“Good job, you definitely are skilled,” Shiro praised, patting Lance’s shoulder with a warm smile.

Lance grinned triumphantly. “Yup! Can’t beat me at what I’m best at, I’ll take that winner’s kiss now,” he winked.

“Hell no!”

Lance rolled his eyes, still smiling. “Fine then, Shiro deserves compensation though, for losing and all.”

Keith glared at the prince while Shiro sighed. “Lance, that’s not-” he froze as Keith stretched up and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. “You didn’t- why- I-I was alright,” he stuttered, clapping a hand to his cheek.

“It’s fine,” Keith said, glancing to the side but smiling softly.

“Alright! Time to move on, lovers,” Lance hummed, starting to walk away.

“We’re not lovers!” Keith snapped.

They stayed in the games section until the sun started to set a few hours later. Lance had planned on going to watch some of the events, like the races or competitions, but he kept getting distracted by either Shiro and Keith or other stalls.

“Ah, quiznak, we gotta find a hill or something,” Lance said, realizing the time has he noticed the Altean sun sinking behind the mountains.

“What?” Keith asked, looking over his shoulder with a hammer raised above his head.

They were currently at a strength testing game where they had to hit a platform hard enough to make a ball shoot up a pole. At first, Keith had misunderstood and thought he just needed to put the heaviest object on the platform and had almost dumped Shiro on. He got the concept after Lance explained and was in the middle of trying again.

“Just hit the thing kid,” the vender sighed, rolling five eyes.

“Right,” Keith said, looking back and, after inhaling, smashed the hammer onto the platform.

The ball shot up around three quarters of the way up the pole. The vendor raised his eyebrows in shock, as did Lance. Usually, people didn’t get much higher than halfway. “Alright, you can pick anything from the third row and down.”

“What?”

“You realize that we play these games for the prizes, right?” Lance asked, resting his arm on Keith’s shoulder.

The shorter boy squinted. “They’re just fun, I don’t want anything,” he paused, glancing at a child staring a star hat with wide eyes. “But uh, the hat, shaped like a star, I guess.”

As soon as the hat was in his hands, Keith turned around and handed it to the child, who, after making sure it was alright from his mom, squealed and ran to show his sister nearby. Keith smiled, pleased with himself.

“What were you saying, Lance?” Shiro asked, smiling as well.

“Huh?” Lance tore his eyes away from Keith’s content face. “Oh, the fireworks are gonna start soon, so we should find a place to watch them. There’s a good hill nearby, too,” he explained.

“Okay, do you want to meet up with Hunk and Pidge?”

“Pidge has to oversee stuff, I haven’t heard anything from Hunk though,” Lance said, pulling out his communicator. “Never mind, he just messaged me. Hm, oh! Shay showed up as a surprise apparently,” he giggled. “He’s gonna watch the show with her, we’re good then. Let’s go!”

“Alright, lead the way,” Shiro said as Keith nodded.

Lance glanced around, getting his bearings before starting in the direction of the hill he was thinking of. It wasn’t far away, but navigating through the crowds that were also starting to head towards places to watch the fireworks was a challenge.

“Why would you choose such a steep hill?” Keith asked as they finally got through the throngs of people, and stared at the hill as Lance stood proudly in front of it.

“Cause no one else is gonna choose it, come on!” The prince said, beginning to walk again.

“Where are you going?” Shiro asked, watching Lance turn to the left instead of starting the trudge to the top.

“There are stairs on the other side. What, you thought I’d climb a hill like this just to watch some fancy explosions?” Lance smirked.

“Fireworks are explosions?” Keith perked up as he followed Lance.

“You’ll see,” he hummed.

At the top, Lance groaned, arching his back in a stretch. Even though stairs were supposed to be easier to climb, they still were a work out when they were tall and steep. “You’re tired just from that?” Keith mocked, smirking.

“Of course not!” Lance snapped, straightening up.

“Don’t fight,” Shiro said for the hundredth time that day.

Keith pouted, glancing around. “So, when do these fireworks start?”

“Once the sky is dark. We can sit over there and wait,” Lance suggested, pointing to a patch of grass with an unblocked view of the sky and festival.

Shiro’s eyes widened as he looked down at the fair beneath them. Even though they weren’t that high up, they could see the whole festival stretching out around them. “It looks a lot different from up here,” he commented softly while sitting down.

“Yeah, the lights are being turned on too, so it gets even more colorful,” Lance sighed, resting his chin in his hands and watching the people at the fair move around.

“It feels a lot smaller than when we’re on the ground,” Keith added, hugging his knees to his chest.

“It’s the same with cities when you’re flying,” Lance responded.

“I would assume so.”

Lance glanced at Keith, slightly confused by his reply. “Doesn’t the sun set slowly? How long is this gonna take?” The shorter boy asked after a minute.

“Nah, the sun sets quickly in summer.”

Shiro frowned. “Really?”

“Yeah, some planets it’s the other way around though.”

Shiro hummed, nodding slightly. “Why?” Lance asked slowly.

Keith glanced at him and Shiro inhaled before shrugging with a sad smile. “My aunt told me a lot about the planet we’re from, and she said that summer sunsets would stretch on for hours.”

“Oh,” Lance pursed his lips, trying to choose between asking for more details or not. With only a few moments to make this decision, he went with asking, the worst that could happen was being told no. “How’d you end up with the Galra?”

Shiro clenched his jaw, looking down at the small plush Keith had given him earlier. “I was taken with a bunch of other humans,” he answered softly after a minute.

Lance’s eyes widened as he realized what Shiro meant. One of the biggest differences between Galra and Alteans, was that Galra still practiced slavery, something Alteans banned centuries ago. They would kidnap smalls groups of species from planets that were outside powerful planets’ influence, and distribute them throughout their colonies. “You too?” He asked, glancing at Keith.

The other boy shook his head stiffly. “I’m a half-breed,” he mumbled.

“Oh, so you’ve never seen the planet you two are from?”

“I’m not from Earth,” Keith said bitterly. “Only my father was.”

“That’s close enough, plenty of mixed species say they’re from the planet one of their parents are from, even if they’ve never been there,” Lance pointed out, looking up at the sky thoughtfully.

Keith looked at Lance with wide eyes, surprised to hear that. “What else did your aunt tell you about, uh, Earth, right?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Mainly stories, she also liked to talk about the mountains and weather,” Shiro said.

“What kind of stories?”

“Stuff she did, she had a ton of stories about things she did with her sisters.”

Shiro went on to share what his aunt shared with him, and Keith would add something every now and then. It was nice listening to Shiro talk about his home, but Lance wasn’t sure if he liked these stories so much that he could ignore the longing in Shiro and Keith’s faces.

There was a sudden bang and all three jumped. “Ah! They’re starting!” Lance exclaimed, pointing at the sky right as the first firework exploded in a circle of shimmering colors.

“Woah,” Keith said while Shiro stared in silence. “Those are fireworks?”

Lance nodded, glancing at the two’s faces, which might have been a mistake. Their expressions, completely entranced by the different fireworks, were much more dazzling then the show in the sky. The festival lights from below and the fireworks from above were the only lighting, so the two boys’ faces were awash with colors and their eyes sparkled, filled with the reflections of the sky. Lance wasn’t sure the last time he had seen such a beautiful sight, and he didn’t want to look at anything else ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> w ow this was so long, I had a rad time writing it though, so much fun. There were a few scenes I cut out but overall I'm pretty happy with this. Hope you all are too!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the best advise comes from hermit gnomes living under a hill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning, I've lost my beta (not lost lost, I know where they are, but they're unavailable for a while) and haven't been feeling great so even though I've read through and edited this like fifty times it's kinda rough. Sorry :///

The festival lasted for a week, which made Shiro and Keith almost giddy when they found out. Keith had all but forgotten his belief that the festival was pointless. During the rest of the week, all five went to most of the attractions; watching races, contests, and trying different foods and games. At one point Lance was able to get a spot as one of the judges for a baking contest and stole extra pieces for the rest of the group. The fireworks that were put on every night became a time to talk rather than admire the colorful explosions. In the last two days of the festival, Pidge was let off the hook for their duties and didn’t have to leave randomly throughout the day anymore. Shay met Lance along with everyone else, and received complete approval from both him and Pidge. On the last day, the day of the berry harvest, Keith and Pidge ate so much that they fell asleep on a bench together by midday, an impressive feat considering the event only started a few hours before. Hunk stayed and watched them with Shay while Lance showed Shiro how to make juice from the berries. Keith was more than confused when he woke up and Shiro had blotchy pink stains all over him.

Once the festival was over, Hunk went back to the Balmera with Shay and Lance assumed the three Galra would leave as well. To his delight though, they stayed. The only problem with that, was Lance started to become anxious, wondering which day would be his last with Shiro and Keith. Which morning he’d wake up and hear that they’d be leaving soon. To cope with these nerves, he began spending as much time as he could with them. He’d train with them, do paperwork his tutors assigned around them, meet them in the mornings, he even began attending meetings between his father and Thace if it meant he could make faces of boredom at Keith and Shiro. Lance considered that he might be annoying the two soldiers, but besides Keith’s normal grumbling, they showed no signs of being bothered by the prince’s presence.

“Hunk, I think I have a problem,” Lance sighed, stretched out on his bed while on a video call with his friend.

Earlier that day, Shiro had been showing Lance some hand to hand combat techniques, and while adjusting his posture, Lance forgot how to speak. _Lance_ forgot how to speak. Shiro had shifted his hips and straightened his back, and when asked if that felt more comfortable, Lance just stared at the floor.

“Is Pidge trying to stop your plans of setting the princess up with that delivery boy?” Hunk asked, looking up from a small drill he was fixing.

“No, no,” he quickly shook his head. “I gave up on that after he said he used Flav gel in his hair. It’s Shiro and Keith.”

“What about them?”

“I feel anxious when I’m not around them, and when I do, it’s like-” Lance waved his hand vaguely- “I dunno, weird. I wanna talk to them about everything I think of, and when Shiro talks to Keith I get annoyed and sad. I feel like a teenage girl with a celebrity crush.”

“Don’t you have a crush on Keith though?”

“What?!” Lance snapped his head up. “Why would you think that?!”

“You kept telling Shiro how cool Keith was at the festival, and would pick out prizes for him,” Hunk explained, pulling a wire out and staring at it before tossing it over his shoulder.

“I wasn’t- that was cause Keith has a thing for Shiro and I was trying to help him out!”

“Maybe it’s backfiring and you want Keith to have a thing for you instead?”

Lance squinted, thinking for a moment before shaking his head. “No, that’s not it.”

“Do you want Shiro to have a thing for you then?”

“Eeehh,” Lance rolled his head. “I don’t think that’s it either.” He wasn’t certain if this even was a crush, but if that was how the conversation was moving he might as well roll with it.

Hunk hummed and nodded, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. “If one of them had to leave, who would you choose to stay?” He asked.

“Um,” Lance stared at the ceiling, thinking.

His first thought was Shiro, since Keith gets on his nerves more. But that had been dying down lately and he had actually began looking forward to talking to him and their light bickering. So then maybe he would choose Shiro, but the idea of not seeing him walking down the hallway or hearing his laugh or watching him take down one of the gladiator robots with just his hands made his chest twist uncomfortably.

“I dunno,” he said eventually, frowning.

“You should probably figure that out before anything else.” Hunk looked over his shoulder suddenly as someone called his name from offscreen. “Be right there! Sorry, I’ve gotta go. Talk to you later, highness!”

Lance drew his eyebrows together and waved absentmindedly.

Å Å Å

“How would you describe a crush?” Lance asked Pidge, leaning over the edge of a chair and watching them work on some code.

“Never had one, I’ve heard they’re annoying but I’ve also heard they’re fun. Why?”

Lance shrugged and straightened up, stretching his arms over his head. “Just trying to figure some things out, thanks.”

Pidge narrowed their eyes for a moment before sighing. “Okay, well if you ever wanna talk about it, Hunk’s always available.”

Lance laughed, ruffling the technician’s hair and ignoring the glare he received as he passed. “Yup, come straight to you, I know.”

Å Å Å

Lance’s eyes snapped open and he jerked up, staring at the screen on his desk with text scrolling across it.

“Your highness?” His history tutor asked, slightly annoyed.

“Um, nothing, go on,” Lance stammered, lifting his head.

After his session ended, Lance immediately ran out of the room, looking for Allura. At this time of day, she’d probably be in her room or the library. After confirming that her room was empty, he jogged to the library and found her on the fifth level, going over some extra work Alfor had assigned her, preparing her for ruling or something. “Hey sis,” he said, trying to sound casual while catching his breath.

“Can I help you?” She asked with a huff. Usually when Lance showed up in such a state, it wasn’t for a good reason.

Lance gulped in some air and straightened up, preparing for Allura’s reaction to his question more than anything else. “Galra practice polyamory, right?”

“Um,” She stared at him in confusion. “Yes, I believe so, to increase the chances of strong offspring if I remember correctly. Why?”

Lance waved his hand, starting to turn and hoping to get away before she started prying. “Not important.”

“Lance, you better not be thinking what I think you are,” she said sternly, crossing her arms.

“And what, dear sister, are _you_ thinking?” he sighed, glancing at Allura.

She raised an eyebrow. “You never had any interest in Galra before the Commander and the other two came here, and now you’re asking if they’re polyamorous. I’m thinking you’re interested in Shiro and Keith.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “You were the one who told me to have a scandal, after all.”

“I was joking! I thought that was obvious!”

“Me too, don’t be so serious, gosh sis,” He laughed easily, waving his hand and leaving.

Å Å Å

“Coran, what would you do if you thought you had a crush but weren’t sure?” Lance asked, pushing himself back and forth on a flat scooter used to get under ships for repairs.

“Me? I’d meditate, helps clear my mind,” the older man said from where he was hanging upside down, working on the panels under a transport ship’s wing.

Lance’s face twisted. “And what would you do if you weren’t the best at meditating?”

“There’s a lovely little pond just behind the Valvet sector, and it’s usually calm. Try spending some time there and focusing on acknowledging your emotions for what they are in their essence, ignore the prejudices you have and what you’ve been told,” Coran explained, mumbling a string of swears as a wire short circuited and zapped him.

One thing Lance appreciated about Coran was that he never wanted an explanation, he just gave Lance his advice and left it at that.

“That sounds a lot easier said than done,” Lance sighed, twisting a strand of his pale white hair.

“Yes, it took me ages to be able to focus my thoughts enough, but practice makes perfect, young prince! Try eating some jexon berries beforehand, they’re famous for calming the mind.”

Once again, Lance twisted his face. Jexon berries were famously bitter as well. “I guess I could try that.”

“If you don’t want to do that, talk to someone instead. It’s a lot easier to lay out your emotions and understand them if you say what’s going on out loud,” Coran suggested, smoothing out his mustache while glaring at a circuit board.

“I’ve tried that, it didn’t really help, just made things more confusing.”

Coran twisted slightly, looking at Lance sympathetically. “Well, I hope you find the solution soon, highness. I remember being in a similar conundrum all too well, it isn’t easy.”

“No,” Lance hummed, focusing on the feel of the wheels sliding against the floor beneath him. “It isn’t.”

Å Å Å

Lance stared at the water in front of him, his chin rested in his hand. While Coran had been right, the pond he was at was quiet and calm, meditation still wasn’t working out. He’d been coming here regularly for a week, but kept getting distracted. His thoughts would wander or he’d get antsy and couldn’t sit still anymore. He groaned, lifting his face up to the sun and closing his eyes. “Feelings, feelings, feelings,” he grumbled.

Slowly, his eyelids drifted open, refusing to stay shut. Which was fine, Lance could work with that. But his current problem was the sharp taste in his mouth. He’d given in and eaten some jexon berries earlier, but the aftertaste kept drawing his focus away.

“Jeez, why does anyone try this?” Lance snapped, banging a fist on the ground. “I just wanna figure if I like some guys, and if I do then which one or both!”

“That sounds like a toughie,” a soft voice hummed suddenly from his right.

Lance squeaked and flinched away, his eyes darting around for whatever just spoke. There was a short, almost gnome-like alien squatted a few feet away, swirling their finger in the water slowly. “Who are you?” Lance asked, more confused than scared.

“Flet.”

Lance squinted, waiting for the alien to continue. “And, why are you here?” He asked after a minute.

“I’m the caretaker for this garden, just checking that the water’s clean and none of the quillin are dead,” they explained, leaning forward slightly to peer beneath the water’s surface at the technicolored fish swirling around. “What about you?”

“Uh, I was trying to meditate,” Lance replied, glancing at the water as well.

He wasn’t sure if this Flet didn’t recognize him as the prince or didn’t care, but Lance didn’t entirely mind. If Flet was the caretaker for this garden, it’s likely they didn’t leave it very often. A small portion of the palace staff were grounds caretakers. With the violent and destructive weather, they were needed to repair and take care of the grounds. Usually, only species that had exceptionally long spans were hired, and once hired they were mostly left to their own devices. Lance rarely saw any, since most preferred to live in solitude or only with their family.

“Not sure if you’re using some new technique, but meditation doesn’t usually involve shouting,” Flet said, distracting Lance.

He pursed his lips, keeping his gaze on the ripples spreading across the pond’s surface. “I know. It’s not easy to focus though.”

“I don’t know much of what’s going on with you, but if this is about whether or not you’ve got feelings for a couple of dudes, it sounds to me like you’re overthinking things.”

Lance looked over at the small groundskeeper. “How so?”

“If you’re putting so much effort into this, it’s obvious you have feelings that are more than just friendship. Don’t waste time worrying about the details and go with what your heart is leaning towards. All of this extra stuff is just gonna stress you out.”

Lance frowned, repeating and going over what Flet said as they stood up and waddled away to a small hill that Lance assumed was where they lived.

He felt like every time someone gave him any advice, it countered what he’d been previously told and only made him more confused. Lance groaned, slumping forward and staring at his hands resting in his lap. After a few minutes of his mind slowly drifting from thought to thought like a boat floating through wool, he stood up with a sigh and headed inside for dinner.

The next morning, several flower arrangements had been ordered to Keith and Shiro’s room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if this feels rushed keep in mind Lance's convo with Hunk happened about three weeks after the festival, and by the time he talked to Flet another week and a half had passed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thace knows what's up, so does Pidge

“Are they there again?” Keith asked from his seat on the edge of his bed, pausing in pulling the top piece of his armor on.

Shiro nodded, wiping the sweat from his morning run off his forehead. “I think we should tell Lance, he can probably at least tell us why there are flowers in front of our room every morning.”

“I don’t know, he’s been acting kind of weird too.”

Shiro paused, thinking about the prince’s actions over the past few days. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t think it’d be a problem to tell him though.”

Keith shrugged, running a hand through his hair. “Maybe, I just don’t want him to,” he paused, trying to think of the right word. “Freak out, I guess. Remember a few quintents ago? He got really jumpy when that girl was talking to us and made her leave.”

His partner nodded slowly. “Is this the same thing though?”

Keith threw his hands up helplessly while falling backwards onto the bed with a thwump. “I dunno, Alteans are weird,” he groaned.

Shiro smiled and patted his knee reassuringly. “It’s not bad though. I mean, how Lance has been acting.”

“No,” Keith agreed. “It’s nice. I don’t really know how to respond to his compliments, but the food he makes us is good.”

“You think any food that’s edible is good. Come on, finish getting ready, breakfast is soon,” he told him, picking up his armor to change out of his workout clothes.

Once the two were done, they left and met up with Thace outside. “I see the flowers still haven’t stopped,” the Commander commented, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the small display of colored plants.

“No,” Keith sighed.

“Do you know why they would be delivered?” Shiro asked, glancing at Thace.

He shook his head. “No, the sharing of fauna can have a variety of meanings. I’m not certain what it means for Alteans.”

Which wasn’t entirely true. Thace had spent enough time around enough species to know that commonly, flowers were a sign of affection and often shared between lovers or involved in courting methods. He had noticed how the prince acted around Shiro and Keith, and suspected that Lance was the one behind these flowers. However, he did not voice his thoughts so as not to influence his two soldiers. Shiro and Keith had lived almost uniquely with the Galra. Besides the slaves Shiro was captured with and the prisoners he fought with before becoming a soldier, this was the first new culture they had been introduced to. Thace did not want to spoil their learning experience. There was also the problem of what would happen if they found out how the prince felt and returned his feelings. While he personally had nothing against the three becoming involved, he knew the general reaction wouldn’t be good, from both Galra and Alteans. That was not a situation Thace was eager to deal with.

“I was thinking we should ask Lance.”

Thace looked at Shiro with a frown. “I would prefer if you didn’t trouble the prince unnecessarily. Maybe ask that student of Coran’s, Pidge.”

“It’s not like Lance would care, he talks to us all the time,” Keith pointed out.

“As long as you do not interrupt his duties. King Alfor would not be pleased if you two distracted his son from work,” Thace shrugged.

“We won’t,” Shiro assured him, waving to said prince as they spotted him at the entrance to the building they were in.

“Hey, you guys sleep alright?” Lance asked as they got closer.

“We did, thank you,” Thace said, stepping around Lance.

He normally went ahead of the three, as they tended to talk and were slower in getting to the dining hall, plus it was clear that Lance was more interested in talking to Shiro and Keith than the Commander.

“Did you have a good run Shiro? I saw you from my window earlier,” Lance asked, bumping his shoulder against the larger boy.

“Yes, I tried a new route. I think it’s longer than the one I was running before.”

“You should stick to this new one, if I get to see you running it’s definitely a good route,” Lance responded with a grin.

“Do you know anything about flowers being delivered to our room?” Keith cut in, tilting his head to get a better look at the boy.

He hummed and tapped his chin with a smug smile. “Why would I know about that, hm?”

“Do you know why they would be sent to us then?” Shiro asked, not picking up on Lance’s tone.

He stopped, staring at the two in confusion. “Wait, you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Um, what flowers mean?”

Shiro and Keith shook their heads, not sure if this warranted the shocked look the prince was giving them. Sometimes they would say something and Lance would act like they were suddenly speaking in another language.

Lance sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at the ground dejectedly. “Well, you can give flowers as a way to show someone you like them,” he explained.

“Why would you give flowers to someone you like?” Keith asked.

Lance pursed his lips, thinking. “Oh! Remember how I was telling you about Altean courting methods a while back and how gifts are usually part of that?”

He nodded, “Yeah, but how are flowers related to that kind of thing?”

Lance sighed again, “They just are, some flowers have special meanings and stuff. They’re just pretty though.”

“Oh, so they mean someone thinks you’re pretty?” Shiro clarified for both him and Keith.

“Kinda, yeah,” Lance groaned. “How do you guys not know this?”

“Galra don’t really give gifts, definitely not,” Keith’s face scrunched. “Flowers.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “You two are hopeless. Good thing you’re cute.”

“Who would send us flowers then?” Shiro asked, staring forward, perplexed.

Lance glanced around, before shaking his head slightly, most likely to himself. “I’ll tell you later.”

While they had been talking, the three had made it to the dining hall, which was probably why the prince didn’t want to say anything more. Shiro and Keith shared a glance before heading to their seats. During the meal, Coran asked Shiro about how his prosthetic worked and Thace would chime in at times. Keith stayed quiet mostly, sometimes Lance would try to talk to him but being two seats away on opposite sides of the table made conversation between just the two of them a bit inconvenient.

Alfor stood up once he finished. “Thank you for sharing your meal with me. Coran, Lance, I want to see you in my study once you finish eating. Good day.”

Shiro and Keith looked at Lance as the rest of the guests at the table sat down. “What are you seeing him for?” Keith asked.

The prince shrugged, watching Alfor leave. “Dunno. Coran?”

“Your father has some important stuff he wants to share with you. Hurry up now!”

“I probably won’t be able to join you guys working out,” Lance mumbled, making no move to eat faster like Coran said.

“That’s alright, you’re not required to or anything,” Shiro reassured him.

“I know, but I like to.”

“Actually, I’d like to go over a few drills. Come on,” Thace cut in, standing up.

Keith swallowed his last bite but Shiro was already done with his food. The three Galra always ate faster than the Alteans due to their schedules usually being a lot tighter with very little time for meals. Lance waved as they rose to leave, pushing Coran off who urged him to finish.

“Do you think Lance knows who’s sending the flowers?” Keith asked once they were out of the hall.

“It’s possible,” Shiro responded.

“Why wouldn’t he tell us earlier then?”

“Maybe he didn’t want anyone else to hear?”

Coran rushed past the trio suddenly, with Lance following a few feet behind. The two tried not to notice as Lance paused for a heartbeat to glance at them, speeding up once Coran called for him. Keith and Shiro lifted their eyes to watch him go while Thace looked on with sympathy. “Boys,” he said after a minute. “While I appreciate your struggles, focus when with me.”

“Yes sir,” Shiro said while Keith glanced down with narrowed eyes, nodding shortly before they continued to the training deck.

Å Å Å

Keith groaned, stretching his arms back. “I hate learning new drills,” he grumbled.

“No you don’t, you just hate being sore,” Shiro replied, hopping to the side to avoid Keith’s jab.

“Wait, there’s Pidge!” The shorter boy shouted, distracted by the even shorter Altean walking down the hallway. “Do you wanna ask them about the flowers?”

“Um, I don’t see a reason not to, but why?”

“Thace suggested it and they seem to know everything,” Keith explained with a shrug, already walking away.

Shiro nodded, the reasoning seeming sound, and followed.

“Hey, Pidge, do you know anything about the flowers being sent to our room?”

Pidge raised their gaze to the two and sighed with all the anguish of a retail worker. “Yeah, but I can’t tell you,” they said simply before leaving.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> time for a booty call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my vague beta is back yay, so if anything is awful blame them (I'm kidding)

To say Lance avoided the two soldiers throughout the rest of the day was an understatement. Shiro saw him once, running down a hallway, but other than that it was like he had vanished. Shiro wasn’t sure if they had done something wrong, but Thace was pleased that they weren’t distracted. He spent most of the day drilling Shiro and Keith and teaching them some basics of working as ambassadors. They didn’t pay too much attention to the lack of Lance though. He was a prince after all, and they couldn’t expect him to spend the whole day with them. But the two soldiers found the absence of Lance’s chatter almost unnerving. He had spent so much time with them for so long, it was an odd feeling to suddenly not hear his chatter.

“It’s weird without him,” Keith sighed, poking the goo on his plate around.

Shiro nodded, watching a mouse dig through the grass in front of the bench they were sitting on “Uh, you mean Lance, right?” He asked after a second, wanting to make sure they were thinking of the same “him.”

Keith blinked, not realizing he hadn’t specified who he was talking about. “Yeah, Lance.”

“It feels silly to miss him so much after only a few hours.”

“I mean, he usually spends most of the day with us. If he’s not in class or a meeting, he’s with us or Pidge.”

“I guess so,” Shiro chuckled. “I didn’t think we’d become so close to anyone here, especially the prince.”

“I didn’t think we’d even be welcomed like this.”

Shiro glanced at Keith and nudged him gently with his shoulder. “No need to be so pessimistic.”

The shorter boy rolled his eyes with a smile, finishing his lunch. “Shut up.”

“Come on!” Shiro said suddenly, shoving Keith while jumping to his feet, leaving his plate on the bench. “Let’s play hunters!”

“Hunters? Shiro, that’s a kids’ game,” Keith responded skeptically.

“So? It’s been ages since we’ve done anything fun together.”

“Wasn’t the festival enough for you?” He sighed, standing up.

“No, there were too many people around. Do you wanna be hunter?”

“Since you’re making me do this, yes. Get running.”

Shiro grinned, waiting for Keith to close his eyes before running away to find a hiding spot.

Å Å Å

Shiro looked up as Keith walked out the bathroom, toweling his hair dry. The older soldier had showered earlier and was sitting on the floor stretching. The privilege of showering every day was not something the two were used to, but it was greatly appreciated.

“Hey Shiro?” Keith started, digging through his small pile of clothes for a shirt and pants to sleep in.

“Yeah?”

“There’s,” he paused to pull his shirt on. “There’s no note on the flowers that say which one of us they’re meant for, right?”

Shiro frowned, thinking about all the deliveries they’d gotten. “Not that I saw, no. Why?”

“Well,” he inhaled slowly. “Wouldn’t that mean they’re for both of us? As in, the sender likes both of us?”

“I would assume so. Why?”

“Wouldn’t, if we ended up knowing who’s sending them and, I don’t know, didn’t reject them, wouldn’t we end up courting each other, too?” Keith sat down while talking, pushing his damp hair out of his face.

Shiro stared at the floor. “Um, yeah, maybe, I guess.”

“How would you feel about that? Would you want to just stay as we are now?”

Shiro sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. “I’m not sure, to be honest.”

“Why?” he tried to ignore the soft crack in Keith’s voice.

“Because, well, I’ve known you since you were born-”

“You’re only five years older,” Keith interrupted, pressing his hands against his knees.

“Let me finish. Our age isn’t a problem for me, but, I’ve considered you family for years. I don’t want to hurt you or the relationship we have now,” He explained carefully, hoping he didn’t sound insensitive.

Keith nodded once, squinting while he thought. Shiro lowered his gaze and resumed stretching, waiting for Keith to process his thoughts. If given the time to think about things, Keith was generally levelheaded. It was when he was rushed or pressured that he snapped.

“And, if you ignored that,” The shorter boy said after a few minutes. “Would you be open to the possibility?”

Shiro paused before answering, making sure he was certain about his answer. “Yes, I would be.”

“Okay,” Keith exhaled loudly, tossing his towel into a laundry shoot and flopping down on his side. “Ready to sleep?”

“Yeah, sleep well,” Shiro stood to turn the lights off before laying down in his bed across from the other soldier. 

“Shiro.”

“Keith.”

Keith rolled his eyes, pulling his blanket up over his shoulders. “Thanks, for talking about this.”

“No problem, squirt.”

“Shut up,” Keith grumbled, smiling and closing his eyes.

Å Å Å

Shiro jumped as someone rapped on their door sharply, the noise causing Keith to jerk up, his hair matted to one side from his sleep. “Whoz it?” He slurred, barely awake.

“One tick,” Shiro told him, striding across the room to open the door.

He wasn’t sure who could be at the door; Thace didn’t visit their room, and no one else ever had before. There was possibility of it being an attendant telling them about new plans or something.

“Hello?” Shiro’s eyes widened as the door slid open to reveal Lance standing with his hands behind his back.

Lance stared, seeming frozen. The taller boy shifted, crossing his arms. He had just woken up and was getting ready for his morning run, so he had yet to put on shirt. He couldn’t be certain, but was fairly sure that was what was distracting the prince. “What’s up? You’re not usually awake this early.”

Lance shook his head slightly. “Um, is Keith up?”

“Kinda,” Shiro looked over his shoulder at the slouched figure in Keith’s bed. “Keith, you conscious yet?”

The boy in question groaned, pushing himself onto his feet and stumbling over to lean against Shiro.

“He’s up, do you want some privacy?”

“No, no this is- I wanna talk to both of you,” Lance shifted, staring at his feet.

“Say it then,” Keith yawned, rubbing his eyes.

“Sorry for coming so early,” He mumbled, glancing up and clearing his throat. “So uh, you probably know this-actually no, you probably don’t, knowing you two. But, well, I, I’ve been the one sending you guys flowers. And um,” he took a deep breath and pulled his hands out shakily, revealing two flowers.

“I like you,” Lance sighed, staring at the fauna in his hands before raising his gaze to Shiro and Keith’s faces. “Both of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> technically it's still wednesday... thirty minutes until it's tomorrow for me, so I'm not off schedule
> 
> anyway, oh my god it's happening who else is excited


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Lance gets up to when evading the Galra
> 
> Aka, the events leading up to his confession

Lance’s leg bounced as he stared at a spot on the wall, only vaguely registering his father’s voice. His brain had a habit of short circuiting as soon as his father started talking about his future.

“Highness,” Coran’s voice cut through the wool clogging his ears. “Are you listening?”

Lance blinked, glancing at the other man. He considered lying and pretending like he understood what he was being told, but that would just backfire in the end. “Uh, not really, sorry. Can you repeat that?” He asked, looking to the king.

Alfor sighed, but other than that acquiesced. “Due to your recent interest in our dealings with the Galra, I was thinking you should start studying interspecies or interplanetary politics. You would make a good ambassador.”

The prince pursed his lips, both legs beginning to bounce. He hadn’t really been any more interested in Galra politics than before, he just liked sitting in on the meetings so he could see Shiro and Keith. “Yeah, I’m not so sure, father.”

“I’ll tell your tutor anyway, you need to start considering your path in life. You’re almost a legal adult.”

Lance winced. His father loved bringing up the fact that he was almost twenty. Lance, on the other hand, still hadn’t fully grasped the idea. “I know, I am thinking about all that, it’s just a bit,” he shrugged. “Difficult.”

“I understand. You don’t have a clear-cut future like your sister, but that’s a blessing in its own way. You have a lot more choices and freedom available to you.”

Lance nodded, scratching the back of his head while his gaze slowly traveled to the ceiling. “Yeah. Can I go now?”

Alfor glanced at Coran before nodding shortly. “Yes, make sure to think about this.”

“I will pops, thank you,” Lance said while jumping to his feet and bowing briefly.

He exhaled loudly once the doors slid shut behind him, rubbing his face before setting off in search of Allura and Pidge. They were always good to talk to, or at least good listeners. Ideally, he’d like to talk to Hunk, but he was a few hours ahead and busy working. He’d try calling later in the day.

As Lance turned a corner he saw the three Galra coming his way and he scrambled back instantly. He wasn’t sure if he could handle talking to them at the moment. If Shiro and Keith asked about the flowers again he didn’t know what he’d say. If they didn’t even understand what the flowers meant, he didn’t think telling them he was behind the whole thing would carry the impact he wanted. Besides that, his head was too scrambled to handle his crushes.

His frantic run down the hallway worked and he managed to evade the Galra, though he did earn several confused glances from others walking by.

Pidge was the first target he managed to find, which was common. Pidge was almost always in the same place; their study. That’s where they liked to work and had set up all their computers and other technology. Lance wasn’t exactly sure what they worked on all day or why they needed so much tech, but Pidge was happy so he didn’t think too much about it.

“Hey short-stack,” Lance said, plopping down in Pidge’s chair that they almost never used.

“Hey. You here for a reason or bored with following those Galra around all day?”

“You say ‘those Galra’ as if you’re not friends with Shiro and Keith.”

“Friends is a strong term, they’re more like close acquaintances. Answer my question.”

Lance shrugged, picking up a discarded tablet and checking if it had any games. “I guess there’s a reason.”

Pidge looked up at him from their spot in front of a disassembled scanner. “Is it about what the king wanted to talk to you about?”

Lance pointed at them as he gave up his search for games. “Bingo.”

“Coran told me it was about being an ambassador or something,” they said, going back to pulling apart wires.

“You knew about this? Traitor, couldn’t even warn me.”

Pidge shrugged. “It didn’t seem like a big deal. With your age and all, everyone expects you to choose some kind of career soon.”

Lance groaned, dropping his head back. “God, I know. It’s annoying. My father kept going on about how I need to think about ‘my path in life.’ How does he think I’m gonna be able to decide on something like so soon?”

“Well, technically you could’ve been thinking about this for a while.”

He covered his face, leaning his chair back. “I know. But all I’ve been able to think about lately is Shiro and Keith.”

“Uh huh, I’ve noticed. You should deal with that sooner than later.”

“I’d love to, but they don’t even know what it means when someone gives them flowers! What if they don’t get crushes?”

“No way to know unless you tell them.”

“Pidge, I love you, but that’s the worst idea,” Lance sighed.

Pidge glared at him. “Well that’s my advice. It’d solve your problems. If you’re so worried about that, do some research on Galra courting methods.”

“From what they’ve told me, they don’t court so much as proposition each other.”

“Then do that.”

“What?!” Lance exclaimed, almost falling out of the chair as he struggled to sit up.

“Don’t you want to do that stuff with them?”

“No! Well, maybe- no! Not right away at least! That’s way down the road- not that I expect anything, I just want to hang out and cuddle or something, I dunno, maybe kiss but no! No,” He babbled, hiding his flushed cheeks. “Even if I definitely wanted to do uh, physical kinda things with them, I don’t want to start a relationship like that.”

“You’re a lot more modest then you’d have people believe,” They commented before sighing. “I still think you should just tell them. Worst case is you get rejected.”

“I don’t wanna lose our current friendship though. What if I tell them and they start avoiding me?”

“You’re kidding. Shiro helped like, ten kids find their families at the berry festival, and Keith would get jumpy whenever you disappeared. And that was what, a month and a half ago? They’re nice guys who care about you. They’d probably feel too bad avoiding you to actually ignore you. Even if they did, they’re not gonna stay here forever.”

“I guess,” Lance mumbled, not able to argue with any of Pidge’s points but not believing them anyway.

Pidge looked at him sympathetically, punching his leg gently. “Whatever happens will happen, I don’t think it’s healthy to stay in this limbo though. You’ve got other things to care about.”

Lance heaved a sigh, standing up. “Yeah, guess you’re right. Maybe I’ll do something, I dunno.”

“So you’ve finished your complaining and now you’re gonna leave?” Pidge teased, smirking at Lance as he stepped towards the door.

“Uh, no. No, what’re you doing?”

“Something very complex.”

“It looks like you’re just stripping wires.”

“Very complex,” Pidge insisted.

“Alright then. See you later,” he chuckled, leaving.

Å Å Å

Lance hummed to himself while walking down a hallway, wandering through the castle after his last class. He could, and probably should, be working on his assignments or practicing, but he liked walking around better.

He glanced out the window, pausing as he realized Shiro and Keith were running around in the courtyard. He squinted, trying to figure out what they were doing. It looked like Shiro was chasing Keith in some kind of game. Lance smiled as Shiro tackled Keith, the two’s laughter not reaching the prince’s ears. His chest clenched, feeling left out even though he had no right to feel that way, since he had been the one avoiding them all day.

“What are you looking at?” Allura asked suddenly from behind him.

“Shiro and Keith,” He replied.

She glanced at him. “You really like them, don’t you?”

Allura had technically been the first one to know about Lance’s feelings. Ever since she had tried to avoid the topic, making it hard to talk about things.

Lance nodded, still looking out the window. She sighed. “I can’t promise things will go smoothly, with both how others react and courting two people at once-”

“Woah, woah! Allura, I haven’t even told them yet, slow down!”

She blinked. “Oh, well, I will support whatever choice you make.”

He smiled. “Thanks sis.”

“Of course.”

“So, does that mean you’ll support me if I choose to elope to the mountains with them?”

“Absolutely not.”

Å Å Å

Lance stared at his ceiling, listening to the bugs chirp outside. It was nearing the morning and he hadn’t been able to get any sleep at all. He had been trying to distract himself with target practice, which had worked a little too well and half the night passed before he realized the time. Then when he went to bed he couldn’t calm down enough to sleep, his mind switching between what his father had talked to him about that morning and Shiro and Keith.

He groaned, pushing himself up and looking out the window. Pidge was right. He should get this over with. If he was going to be kept up by his thoughts, it’d be easier if they were centered around the same thing and not jumping around different topics that were both equally stressful.

Which is why Lance ended up outside Shiro and Keith’s room with two flowers he had just ran outside to pick, not awake enough to properly think through his plan.

After glancing at the clock for the tenth time and deciding that at least Shiro would probably be awake by now, he lifted a hand and knocked.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is craving McDeath™ because of Sheith's sweaty thicc thighs

The thought to run away down the hallway or laugh everything off as a joke crossed Lance’s mind. More than just crossed his mind actually, his entire body was screaming at him to run right now. Get out of this before he loses two friends. But he stuck to his spot stubbornly, mama didn’t raise no quitter after all. Or, papa, technically.

He blinked, focusing on Shiro and Keith in front of him. He could practically taste his heart in his mouth, and he wasn’t sure when the last time he had inhaled was. He probably should do that soon. Not right now though, if he moved even an inch Lance was certain he would explode.

“Both of us?” Shiro asked, breaking the silence.

Lance nodded stiffly, fumbling as he held out the flowers to them.

“I thought Alteans were monogamous,” Keith said with a frown.

Lance was pretty sure he was tasting vomit now. “It’s uh, not like a strict rule o-or anything.”

“Can we have some time to think about this?” Shiro interrupted whatever Keith was about to say.

“Yeah! Totally, yeah, take all the time you need. Um, here,” he pushed his hands out a little farther.

Before he could act on his realization that that action was stupid, each had taken a flower and Lance stumbled back. “Okay, see you later, have a good run man, bye! Uh, yeah, bye!” He stammered before spinning around and running down the hall to the elevator.

Did he really just call Shiro ‘man’? After confessing? Why did he say bye twice? Why did he insist they take the flowers? They weren’t even good ones, just the first two nice looking ones that he had been able to find in the dark.

He gasped, falling against the wall of the elevator as the doors slid shut. He probably hadn’t been holding his breath that whole time, but damn, it sure felt like it.

“Oh gods,” he whispered, holding his head in his hands. “What’ve I done?”

Instead of getting off on the floor his room was on, Lance went up an extra floor. Allura’s door was locked, but luckily, he managed to override the lock. For safety measures, any member of the royal family could forcibly unlock doors, that was only for emergencies though, so Lance had never used the function before. But now definitely qualified as an emergency.

“Allura!” Lance cried, running into her room and dropping onto her bed.

“What the- Lance! Quiznak, what are you doing here?” The princess gasped, jerking awake.

“Allura, I told Keith and Shiro,” he whined, burying his face in her blankets.

“What?” She yawned, rubbing her eyes and sitting up properly.

“I told them! That I like them! What’ve I done? Everything is ruined now!”

“You told them this early in the morning?”

“Oh gods, I did, didn’t I? Ah, quiznak! They’re never gonna talk to me again!” Lance moaned, wishing he could curl into himself and disappear.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Allura reassured him, stroking his hair gently.

“I bet I looked like such a jerk!”

“No, of course you didn’t. What did they say?”

“I don’t know.”

“You didn’t wait for an answer?”

“No, they asked for time to think,” he rolled over onto his back, pressing his palms against his eyes. “That’s a no, right? It’s a no, quiznak, they’re gonna reject me. Should I have waited until later? Ugh, obviously. I can’t believe I was so stupid!”

“Now, now, that’s not true. If they want time to think that probably means you just surprised them. It’s good they’re considering this.”

“What if they never answer me and just avoid me until they leave? I don’t know how I’ll be able to handle that!”

She sighed. “Come on, lets you get a warm drink.”

“What?” Lance sniffed, peeking out from under his hands.

“A warm drink, maybe a hot float. How does that sound?”

“I’m not a little kid, Allura!” Even though the offer was very appealing, Lance didn’t like feeling he was a child crying over something trivial and being dismissed.

“I know. This will help calm you down. You probably should sleep too; your eyes look droopy.”

Lance poked the skin around his eyes gently. “Really? Quiznak, I confessed with no sleep and eye bags, I look like a wreck. Can I redo this?”

“We haven’t managed to time travel, so no. Come on now.”

“Allura, everything is ruined,” Lance whined again, following her.

She had been right though; a warm drink did help. It at least made his brain finally realize how tired he was. After shuffling back from the kitchenette in the base of the tower, Lance passed out in his bed, his sheets tangled around his limbs.

When he woke, the sun was blazing through his windows. There was a brief moment where he forgot what he’d done, and he was only confused as to why he was just waking up when the sun was so high. Then events of the early morning hit him like a battle ship.

“Oh gods,” He groaned. “What have I done.”

Lance pushed himself up, deciding he could only mope for so long. If he was going to continue to think about everything he did wrong, he should at least do so while getting ready for the day, or what was left of the day. He vaguely wondered what time it was, but didn’t bother to check. It’d just make him feel worse.

After a long shower and face wash, he stood in front of his doors, wondering if he could get away with staying in his room all day. “Maybe I should just become a hermit,” He mused to himself.

The image of his father and Allura finding out made the idea significantly less appealing though. So, he stepped forward, making the doors swish open.

A note was pinned to the wall across from his door, his name written in large letters across it. His heart jumped right up to his ears at the thought of Shiro or Keith being the ones who left it, and he almost jumped across the hallway to pull it down, a million possible messages flashing through his head in the seconds it took for him to get to it. The writing inside though, was distinctly Allura’s, and Lance drooped, reading a lot less enthusiastically.

_Lance, I convinced father to cancel your classes today so you could rest. You owe me one, and you can pay me back by distracting and taking care of yourself. Don’t spend the whole day worrying over those two Galra.  
-Allura_

Well, at least he didn’t have to deal with his tutors yelling at him to pay attention. Though he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to _not_ worry about Shiro and Keith for the rest of the day. Allura was asking a lot.

Maybe he could try to bother Pidge, or call Hunk. Or, even better, stalk Shiro and Keith so that he could figure out their answer in case they decided to never tell him. Perfect, nothing could go wrong with that plan.

He groaned, leaning against the wall. What was he thinking? He didn’t want to turn into a stalker.

Which is why Lance wasn’t stalking Shiro and Keith, he was simply checking where they were.

“I’m just a concerned prince keeping tabs on political visitors,” he mumbled to himself, sticking his head around a corner to see if they were in the training deck.

He jerked back as he confirmed that yes, the two Galra were there. Very sweaty in tight body suits and fighting each other, they were definitely in there. He poked his head out again, just double checking that he had seen correctly.

The two were in some kind of skirmish. Shiro was using a sword, not his arm. Lance had never seen him fight with an actual weapon before. He had the strength to use a sword well, but he seemed awkward and uncertain, especially compared to Keith.

The two backed away from each other for a second, wiping sweat from their eyes. Then Keith made eye contact with Lance, said to something to Shiro and then both were looking at him.

Lance squeaked, recoiling out of their sight and pressing himself against the wall. Maybe they would just go back to their practicing and he could sneak away like nothing ever happened.

“Lance,” Shiro called from the hall, finding him despite Lance’s attempts to turn invisible. “We need to finish this drill, then we can talk. Can you wait?”

He nodded. “Yeah no problem!” He responded, a little too loudly.

“Thank you,” Shiro smiled, turning and jogging back to Keith.

Lance exhaled, sliding down the wall. Maybe he could run away. He wouldn’t have to face being rejected then. He’d been told no plenty of times in his life, but never in this context. Running away wouldn’t help anything though.

“Why’d I have to go looking for them?” He whined, hiding his face in his hands.

“Lance?”

He jumped, staring up at the two Galra looking down at him. “Why are you on the floor?” Keith asked.

“You’re done already?” Lance asked shrilly, not registering Keith’s question.

“It’s almost been twenty dobashes,” Shiro told him, holding out a hand to help him stand up.

Lance hesitated, staring at the offered hand before slowly grabbing it and hefting himself up. Had it really been that long? The passage of time was crazy. “Do you wanna go outside? Or talk here?” The taller man asked.

“Um, you can choose, I don’t really care,” Which was a lie, Lance wanted to do whatever would put this conversation off.

“Here’s fine then,” Keith declared.

Lance wondered if he’d be able to hear them over his heart and the ringing in his ears.

“So,” Shiro started. “We talked, a lot, and decided on a decision. We’re not so sure how things will work out, especially with Thace, but-”

“It’s okay,” Lance interrupted, smiling while his chest felt like lead. “I understand, I won’t act weird or anything after this, don’t worry.”

“What?”

“You’re- rejecting me, right?”

“We’re saying yes, dummy,” Keith sighed.

He blinked at them, processing. They were saying yes. Yes to what? That’s right, his confession- Lance smacked his hands over his mouth, beaming. “Really? Like, really really?!”

Shiro smiled, nodding along with Keith. “I’ll say this now,” Keith held up his hands. “I don’t know much about how sex works between three-”

“Shut up!” Lance shrieked, pressing his hands against Keith’s face, his own face on fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> G o d am I so happy to finally get to this. I am not a patient person, probs shouldn't have decided to write a slow burn (and this isn't even as slow burn as I could've done) buT it has HAppeNED wOO


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best way to get over awkwardness is to get wet

Lance tapped his fingers against his hips, staring down the hallway and glancing outside every now and then. He didn’t know if he had ever been this nervous while waiting for Shiro and Keith to come down for breakfast.

After his confession yesterday, the two Galra hadn’t acted very different besides some more flirtatious comments. Lance wasn’t sure what he expected, and maybe on some level he was glad there wasn’t a huge shift in how Shiro and Keith treated him, but he thought having two boyfriends would feel at least a little different. And he was pretty sure they considered him a boyfriend, they talked a lot about the kind of relationship they should have. Lance assumed that it wasn’t unusual for Galra to have purely physical relationships, and Shiro and Keith wanted to make sure that wasn’t the case. Or that Lance wasn’t just interested in some shenanigans to pass time.

Whatever the reason, they had all been clear that this relationship was a form of courting, not just sexual.

Lance jumped up as he saw someone waking down the hallway towards him, but deflated as he realized it was Thace.

“A word, your highness?” The commander asked, though Lance was fairly sure that if he said no, Thace would talk to him anyway.

So, he nodded and they stepped just outside the entrance.

“I’ve been informed of the development of your relationship with Shiro and Keith.”

Lance tried not to look too surprised and prepared himself for the “Don’t hurt my boys” talk.

“I would like to believe you have the best intentions, but make sure you consider both your status and theirs. I’ve worked hard to get the freedoms they have now, do not endanger them unless you can protect them from the consequences. Do you understand?”

“Yep! Don’t worry, we weren’t even gonna tell anyone until we’re sure this will work out. I promise they’ll be safe,” Lance reassured him with a smile much more confident than he actually felt.

Thace hummed, staring at the prince before nodding briefly and walking away.

As soon as he was gone, Shiro and Keith poked their heads out. “You told Thace?” Lance gasped, hopping closer to them and looking back at Thace’s receding form.

Lance had only told Allura so far, and that was because he felt she deserved to know after he woke her up at an ungodly hour whining about his confession. But she wouldn’t tell anyone. Thace, on the other hand, Lance wasn’t sure. He didn’t know him well enough to be confident that he wasn’t off to tell Alfor right now.

“Duh,” Keith said with a roll of his eyes.

“Hiding things from him really doesn’t work out well. Besides,” Shiro pulled Lance in between the two, “It worked out fine, he likes you.”

Lance blushed, glancing at their faces, his worries about Thace quickly drifting to the back of his mind. He could get used to being this close to Shiro and Keith. “Of course he does, everyone likes me.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow, pushing against his shoulder lightly. “Do we have competition?”

“I’m not sharing,” Keith declared.

“You technically are,” Lance pointed out, nodding towards Shiro.

“He doesn’t count, I share everything with Shiro.”

“Yeah, sometimes I wish you wouldn’t.”

Keith smirked and didn’t reply. Lance squinted between the two, “Now I wanna know.”

Shiro laughed, patting his shoulder. “I don’t think you do.”

Throughout breakfast, Lance kept squirming and attempting not to inhale his food all at once. Allura was making very pointed glances at him, as if saying “calm the quiznak down.” And Lance tried to listen, he did, but he really wanted to go back to spending time with Shiro and Keith, alone, just talking.

When he finally finished and stood up with the three Galra, Thace raised an eyebrow at him. He didn’t say anything until they were out of the dining hall though. “I hope you’re planning on joining us in training, and not anything else.”

Lance faltered. He normally trained with them in the mornings now, but he had been hoping to hang out with Shiro and Keith without anyone else around and without practicing drills. “Well, yeah of course,” He said, hoping his pause had gone unnoticed.

The rest of the day went similarly. Lance was beginning to realize that just because he was now in a relationship with Shiro and Keith, and Thace knew, their schedules weren’t going to be altered just for some more down time. Lance still had his classes, still got called into meetings with his father. Shiro and Keith still had to train and still had private classes with Thace.

Lance groaned, stretching his arms above his head.

“You don’t seem too excited,” Shiro commented, bending forward to grab one of his feet.

At the moment, it was just the two of them sitting outside. Lance was working on assignments and Shiro was stretching, but really only so he looked like he was doing something. Thace was still teaching Keith about diplomacy or knives or whatever they talked about. Keith never shared many details about his sessions with the Commander.

“Yeah, well I was hoping we’d be able to spend more time together now,” Lance sighed, looking up at the sky.

“We spend most of the day together.”

“I know, but like, people are usually around. I thought we’d get more alone time, you know?”

“What do you want to do alone with us?” Shiro asked suggestively, smirking.

Lance jerked his eyes down to the screen he was working on. “Nothing like that! I just like talking to you guys.”

He chuckled. “I know, I was just joking. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be able to spend more time together with just each other.”

“I know!” Lance said suddenly, straightening up. “We need a vacation!”

Shiro tilted his head, “What?”

“A vacation, it’s a trip you take to get away and relax for a few quintants. If I can convince Father and Thace, we can probably go to the lake house or something,” Lance explained, finishing the problem he was in the middle of.

“It couldn’t hurt, let’s try asking after Keith finishes with Thace.”

Å Å Å

Lance chewed the inside of his lip, watching Alfor to try and judge his reaction.

“Your idea has merit. I think the Commander and his soldiers would enjoy seeing some more of our world.”

Lance smiled hopefully.

“However,” There it was. “If some problem were to arise, I’d need them to be here so we could deal with it promptly.”

“Well, the Commander could stay? I mean, he is the one who does most of the ambassador things,” Great wording, Lance. “And no problems have ever come up yet, and we’d only be gone for a short time, so I don’t think it’d be bad,” He glanced at Thace who was standing a few feet away.

He sighed, “I have no objections to that plan, your majesty.”

Lance was beginning to see the benefits of having Thace know about their relationship.

Alfor nodded, rubbing his chin. “Alright, good idea, Lance. I thought you’d like trying out more diplomatic jobs.”

Lance grinned. “Yeah, totally! That’s exactly why I suggested this.”

“Excellent, you can leave tomorrow morning then!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry this took longer than normal, I don't really have an excuse I just stopped writing for a bit :"))  
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading this!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirty talking time

   
Lance grinned as Keith and Shiro’s door slid open, revealing the two of them holding a bag each.

“That’s all you guys are bringing?” He asked, eyeing the small packs.

“It’s just five quintants, right?” Shiro responded, glancing at Keith.

“Yeah, why would we need more?” Keith added.

Lance blinked. “I guess if that’s all you need. You ready then?” They nodded. “Awesome! We’re leaving from the aerial hangar, remember where that is Keith?”

The dark haired boy rolled his eyes as they started to make their way out of the building. “I’ve been there more than just that time when I beat you.”

Lance scoffed. “Your memory is messed up. _I_ was the one who beat _you_.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

“All I remember is both of you getting in trouble for using jets without permission,” Shiro cut in.

Lance coughed. “Really? Why ever would you think that?”

“I had to clean a bunch of jets with you picking fights the whole time,” Keith grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the prince.

“I was not picking fights! That was you, I just wanted to talk!”

“See Lance, that’s where you made your mistake. Keith takes any kind of conversation as a challenge to fight,” Shiro explained with a smirk.

“Well obviously I didn’t make any mistakes, since both of you are madly in love with me.”

“That’s an over statement,” Keith hummed, shouldering Lance.

He clutched his chest with a gasp, staring at them affronted. “I’m hurt! How could you two deceive me like this!”

“What can I say, we’re monsters,” Shiro sighed with an amused smile.

As the three entered the hangar, Pidge waved at them from the side of a short distance travelling ship.

“Here to say goodbye to your beloved prince?” Lance asked as they walked over.

“You know I’ve never acknowledged as a prince. And nope, we’re coming with you,” They said perkily.

“We?” Lance tried to ignore the ominous twisting of his gut.

“Ah! You’re here, highness! Come on now boys, let’s get those packs in the back so we can blast off!” Coran shouted, hopping out of the cockpit.

Lance struggled to contain his groan. “Why are you two coming? I thought my father was fine with it just being us three?”

The short mechanic smirked. “Well, he realized that you’d need someone who actually knows stuff about politics in case something did happen to go wrong. So, he told Old C to join you, and I just hated the thought of you three being all alone with just one other person who you could easily avoid.”

The twisting of Lance’s insides stopped, just as everything else around him. He leaned down to Pidge’s height, holding up a hand to block his view of Coran. “Who told you?” He whispered urgently.

“Told me what, Lance?” Despite their words and innocent tone, they were beaming like a madman.

“Don’t play games with me, genius, I’m still taller and can hide all your favorite toys on shelves you can’t even see.”

“What are you whispering about?” Shiro asked, his voice a soft hush too.

Lance was almost distracted by how hot the taller man’s voice was when quiet and scratchy. But there was a more important subject at hand, he could come back to his potential love for low, husky voices later.

“Pidge knows, I’m sure of it!”

“I haven’t the faintest clue of what you’re talking about,” They insisted, suddenly stepping back and raising their head. “Ready to go, Coran?” They called loudly, causing Lance to straighten up with a suspicious glare.

“Just checking the splitalian springs, then we’re off. You kids get in and buckle up!”

Pidge spun around, “I call front-”

“Oh no you don’t! You’re not getting away from me!” Lance interrupted, grabbing their arm and pulling them into the back compartment.

“Okay, who sent you, what do you know, who’s your informant? Talk!” He demanded slamming the door shut.

“Lance, you should calm down, I think you’re going too far,” Shiro interjected, frowning at the two.

Pidge laughed. “Chill man, he’s just joking,” they told Shiro before turning to the present interrogator. “And as for your questions Lance, I figured it out myself. You’re too obvious.”

Keith tapped Lance’s shoulder. “Figured out what?”

“That you three are, what are you calling it, courting? Dating? A fling?”

Lance covered his face to hide the heat running to his cheeks. “I told you ages ago I’m not interested in flings. How did you even figure it out?”

“You’re kidding, right? It’s so obvious. At least two of you are in constant contact and you’re not good at hiding your little conversations.”

Now it was Keith and Shiro’s turn to smirk as they leaned closer to Lance. “I told you I wasn’t good at being subtle,” Keith hummed while Shiro nodded in agreement, slipping a hand around Lance’s waste and clasping hands with Keith’s.

Lance grinned, leaning against them before shaking his head to force himself to focus on Pidge. “So why are you coming with us then?”

They shrugged. “I told you before, Alfor thought it’d be better if Coran came. And I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.”

“What opportunity, to tease us and make suggestive comments that Coran won’t notice?”

“Yup!” They grinned, crossing their arms triumphantly. “I do have a few rules though.”

“Shoot,” Shiro said just as Keith said “Too bad,” while Lance groaned.

“You’re really on the same display, I’m shocked,” Pidge commented sarcastically before continuing. “Rule one, no sex-” they had to pause while Lance choked on air. “Or related activities in the kitchen or lake. Don’t you dare desecrate the food and water. Rule two, don’t let me walk in on any shenanigans. I’d prefer to not burn my eyes out. And rule three, clean up after yourselves. If I find any trace of suspicious activities, I will kick you out and sanitize the entire place.”

Lance would have loved to respond with some sassy comeback or a joke, but he was too busy hiding his face. While Keith giggled over his obvious embarrassment, Shiro held out a hand. “We’ll follow those rules, I promise.”

Pidge nodded once, shaking the offered hand. “Glad we could work this out amicably. Now while Lance gets over his modesty, I’m going to my rightful spot up front.”

With that, they stood up and opened the hatch to the cockpit. Coran had started flying at some point during the conversation, and the three boys got a glimpse of clouds shooting by.

“Why would Pidge think those rules needed to be said?” Lance whined once the door was shut.

“I think it was good to set them,” Keith said, not realizing his question was rhetorical.

“What?” The white haired boy shrieked as Shiro nodded in agreement.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> getting tight and wet with the bois

“Alright young’uns! Get your bags out, then we can hit the beach!” Coran’s voice called through the speakers as the ship landed.

Lance blinked his eyes open, lifting his head from Shiro’s shoulder as Keith did the same from the other side of Shiro. “I almost fell asleep,” He yawned, stretching and standing up. “Your shoulder is comfy.”

“That wasn’t a long flight at all, what do you mean you almost fell asleep? How tired are you?” Keith asked with a squint.

“Did you get enough sleep last night?” Shiro added.

Lance rolled his eyes, pushing the door open. “Calm down nanny squad. Ship rides like that just make me sleepy,” He sighed as he climbed out.

“Hope the ride was enjoyable, highness!” Coran hummed, two stuffed bags underneath his arms.

“But not too enjoyable,” Pidge quipped, smirking at the three.

“Shut up, Pidgy,” Lance hissed through a grin as he elbowed them. “Smooth sailing, as usual, Coran! Ready to take a dip now?”

“Hold your k’thelin, majesty, put your stuff in your rooms first and we need to turn everything on.”

Lance dropped his head back with an exaggerated groan. Keith leaned close to Lance’s ear. “A dip of what?” He asked, shivers spreading out from where his breath brushed against Lance’s neck.

He looked back at Keith with a frown. “What do you mean? The lake, obviously.”

“You take dips of lakes?” Shiro asked, his eyebrows quirked in curiosity.

“Um, yeah?”

Before Shiro or Keith could voice the alarm etched in their faces, Coran shouted from the entry to the house. “Come on slow pokes!”

Lance bounced, grabbing his case from the back and tugging Shiro and Keith along. “You heard the man!”

The lake house had a modest and an older design, so there were no elevators and only two floors. Lance smiled looking up at the metal designs covering the wall. He had mostly good memories from here, besides a few sprained limbs and the odd broken arm from trying to learn how to fly, the vacations here were fun. Lance and his family hadn’t come back for a few years for a multitude of reasons, but the house looked like no time had passed.

Lance inhaled, closing his eyes. The palace air might be just as clean, if not more, but this air felt fresher. He followed Coran inside, waiting until Shiro and Keith were inside as well before pushing the door closed with his hip.

“This is uh, pretty old technology,” Shiro commented, looking at the door that still used hinges.

“Yep! It’s traditional,” Lance chirped, trotting towards the stairs.

“Is everything here ‘traditional’?” Keith asked, looking around.

“No, the kitchen and bathrooms are all up to date, and a lot of the bedrooms have updates. But for the most part everything is all old tech! Most of it is from around my grandpa’s time.”

“You seem excited about this stuff,” Keith hummed, nudging Lance with a shoulder.

“Well I mean, it’s interesting! Shut up,” He huffed, starting to speed up the stairs.

Shiro laughed, hooking arms with Lance. “It’s cute, don’t worry.”

Lance smiled, glancing away with a soft blush. “So, my room’s right here, you can-”

“Nope,” Pidge interrupted, pushing Lance away from the door he was reaching to open. “I know this story, and I, for one, enjoy an undisturbed sleep. You three can room at the far end of the hallway.”

“What? Pidge you’re acting ridiculous with all this,” Lance groaned with a roll of his eyes, starting to get annoyed with how Pidge was acting.

They tugged Lance down to their height, “I’m _trying_ to help you out, you thick royal! Go get some alien action already, so you stop blushing like a priest!” They whispered harshly, shoving him down the hallway before he could get over his shock and respond.

“What did Pidge say to you?” Keith asked, looking back at the person in question.

“You look like you were electrocuted,” Shiro joined in.

“I’m fine!” Lance squeaked, clearing his voice. “Uh, you guys wanna share a room? There’s one big enough to fit a few beds, if you’re not uncomfortable, or, or,” He trailed off in a rush, heart in his throat as he looked back at Pidge as well who gave him a thumbs up.

Keith glanced at Shiro, both smiling slyly before leaning in on opposite sides of Lance’s face. “Or is there a bed big enough for all of us?” Shiro asked softly.

He coughed, his voice cracking. “Oh! Well! Um, yeah.”

“That sounds easier than getting three individual beds,” Keith said while Shiro nodded.

Lance laughed and maybe it was too loud and maybe a little squeaky and maybe he sounded like a balloon, but maybe Lance was the only one who noticed. “Careful Keith, he might pop,” Lance bit his tongue as Shiro noticed.

“I thought that was the point?”

“So!” Lance interrupted, remembering how to move his feet again. “As much as I love listening to you two talk about um, popping me, with those really, really low voices, we should put our stuff away and get ready. And stop grinning like that! You cocky bastards!”

Shiro laughed, straightening up and resting a hand on Lance’s lower back. “Alright, lead the way, your majesty.”

Lance couldn’t tell if Shiro was using his formal title as a kind of mockery or not, but he continued down the hallway, opening the last door. This door was one of the few with a fingerprint lock, since members of the royal family were the only ones to use it. He’d have to upload Shiro’s and Keith’s fingerprints. Lance frowned, remembering this was the room his father always stayed in. He wasn’t sure how he felt about sleeping in the same bed that his parents slept in.

“Okay so, there are dressers if you wanna put your clothes in a drawer, and two bathrooms to change in, um, we can take turns. Get your bathing suits and we can go!”

“Bathing suits?” Keith repeated.

“Um, yeah, swimsuits? What you wear in the water?”

The two glanced at each other. “We don’t have anything like that,” Shiro said, returning his gaze to Lance.

Lance blinked, processing his shock. “Okay, um, just wear some spare shorts and a shirt then, I guess.”

Keith shrugged and Shiro nodded as they opened their bags and started pulling out clothes.

Lance clicked open his case, pulling out his bathing suit and heading to the bathroom on his right. “I’ll change first then I guess.”

He didn’t put too much thought into why neither of his boyfriends had a bathing suit. Galra generally had a very controlled wardrobe, besides a few exceptions. If Shiro and Keith didn’t often swim, it made sense that they wouldn’t carry a swimsuit around with them.

He pulled the microfibers up his legs, hopping around to get the patterned suit over his hips and up his torso so he could get his arms through the straps. Lance sniffed his suit after he was finished getting into it, wondering if it smelled musty or like the water he had last swam in with it. Deciding it was probably just his imagination, he ran a hand through his hair and checked his teeth in the mirror before returning to the room. Shiro and Keith had both finished changing, and while Shiro was wearing a shirt – one that clung to his chest like a second skin – Keith was not.

Lance stared at the pale, almost translucent skin of the shorter boy, realized he was staring too long and tore his eyes away only to be taken in by Shiro. It didn’t really look like he was wearing a shirt, with how tight the dark fabric was. “Um, you guys ready?” Lance asked, inhaling and forcing his gaze to rise to Keith’s face. “You don’t need to put on a shirt?”

“I don’t really have a spare shirt that could get wet,” Shiro said, rubbing the back of his neck. “So, Keith lent me his.”

“That’s alright, right?” Keith asked. “If a shirt is completely necessary I can-”

“No! No it’s totally fine, more than fine, you guys look great, really good,” Lance wet his lips, frozen in place.

Shiro tilted his head slightly, a smile spreading across his face. “Do we stay in here then?”

Lance jumped, spinning towards the door. “Let’s go!” He almost shouted, ignoring the chuckles that followed him.

“Wait,” Keith froze as they stepped out the back door, staring out across the deck that stretched over the water. “You swim _in_ the lake?”

“Yeah?” Lance glanced at Shiro who looked just as disturbed. “What else would we swim in? This is a lake house.”

“You don’t have pools or anything?”

“We do, but not here, because there’s an entire lake for us to swim in.”

“What about that?” Shiro interrupted, pointing at Pidge as they pushed a button to open the cover of the hot tub.

“That’s the hot tub, but you can’t really swim in it,” Lance explained, squinting at the shine from the lake.

“It looks warm,” Keith noted. “And easy to stay afloat in.”

Lance glanced at the two. “It’s nice afterwards, but let’s swim a little first, come on!”

“Do we have to?” Shiro asked slowly.

“Those look like nice chairs to watch you swim from,” Keith nodded towards a few seats set up on the edge of the deck.

Lance frowned. “Do you two not want to swim?”

“It’s not so much a matter of ‘want,’ more of,” Shiro trailed off.

“Having the ability to,” Keith finished.

Both were looking pointedly away from Lance.

“Wait, you can’t swim?!” He exclaimed, stumbling back a step.

Shiro cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well it’s not like there’s a ton of space on a space ship!” Keith defended, crossing his arms.

“And we can swim, kinda,” Shiro added. “Just enough to not drown.”

“So you get taught how to kill before swimming?”

“I mean, the Empire does have priorities,” He shrugged.

“We’ve never needed to swim anyway,” Despite Keith’s defensive tone, he looked just as embarrassed as Shiro.

Lance glanced back to make sure Coran was nowhere near. “I might have to break up with both of you over this,” He grinned though, grabbing their hands and dragging them towards the steps leading into the lake. “I’ll teach you then! The water is shallow, it’ll be fun!”

“Um, Lance, I don’t know if this is a good idea-”

He paused, turning back to press a hand against Shiro’s chest. “You mean you don’t want to get private lessons with me all wet?” He purred, smirking.

Lance could hear Shiro swallow, watched his Adam’s apple bob. But before Lance could realize what he had said, there was a shout from behind them suddenly, cut off by a large splash. Lance spun around, running to the edge of the deck and looking in right before Keith burst through the surface, limbs flailing like a windmill. After a few minutes of slapping water around, his feet managed to find the bottom and he stilled, tilting his head back to keep his face above water and glancing back and forth in panic.

“I thought you said the water was shallow!” He glared at Lance, spitting out a mouthful of lake water.

Lance covered his grin, trying not to laugh. “Yeah, by the stairs, but it gets deeper, the whole lake isn’t the same depth!”

“This is why you always had to retake the swim tests,” Shiro chuckled. “You only make a bunch of splashes without moving.”

“Yeah yeah, I know, the prodigy Shiro who fought his way out of the gladiator ring and could swim just slightly better than me,” Keith rolled his eyes, sliding his feet inch by inch to the shallows.

Lance jumped into the water next to Keith, causing him to reel backwards and begin windmilling his arms again. “Woah there, Hot Fuzz,” He grabbed Keith’s wrists. “You won’t drown, I promise.”

“I hate water,” Keith hissed, glaring at the liquid surrounding him.

“Then why’d you jump in like that?”

He snorted, glancing to the side and staying silent. Lance squinted, suspecting he knew the reason why, but before he could voice his hunch, Keith opened his mouth. “So, you’re gonna teach me to swim?”

“Yup! And you’re in luck, I’m one of the best swimmers around!”

“You said that about your marksman skills.”

“And how many times have I missed?”

Keith frowned, thinking. “Fine. How do you swim, then?”

“With more controlled movements, I’m guessing?” Shiro asked, now in the water as well, standing up on his toes as he carefully waded in.

Lance nodded. “Yeah. I’m not expecting any fancy strokes today, I’ll settle for a basic paddle.”

“I can do some pretty fancy strokes that aren’t related to swimming,” Keith grumbled, relaxing slightly as they got to a depth that he could stand comfortably and pushing his bangs out of his face.

“Then this shouldn’t be too hard. Okay, so can you float?”

Keith stared down through the water at his feet. “Um, that sounds easy. How do you start?”

Lance sighed, running a hand down his face.

“Like this, Keith!” Shiro called, leveling out his body on the surface before he started sinking.

Lance waited a second to see if Shiro would push himself up, but when it became clear he wasn’t going to, Lance darted over and hefted the large man back up to the surface. “No! That is not how you float!”

It was becoming clear that Lance had signed up for than he had expected.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salad

Lance laughed, ducking away from the wave Keith splashed at him. “Sorry! I won’t do that again, promise,” He giggled, shielding his face from the onslaught of water.

“How could you! This is why I have trust issues!” Keith shouted, glaring.

“What, do people often let go of you when teaching you how to float?” Lance started to return fire, ducking his head under the water to get a moment of respite.

“Yes!” He heard Keith bark as he resurfaced.

“I guess there’s no helping it,” Shiro sighed from behind Lance. “We can’t have you betraying our trust.”

Lance barely had to time to process what Shiro was saying before he felt strong hands grab and pin his arms to his sides. Keith took the opportunity to move closer, his hands ominously close to the water.

Lance squirmed, grinning and turning his face to the side. “No, please! Mercy, I already promised I wouldn’t do it again!”

Shiro hummed, his chest pressed flush against Lance’s back, the fabric of his shirt rubbing against Lance’s swimsuit. “What do you think, Keith? Should we trust him?”

Keith tapped his chin, squinting at Lance, who took the time to make his face look as disarming as possible, ginning when Keith threw his hands up. “It’s hard not to trust a face that cute!”

The temporary prisoner smirked. “That’s right, this is the face of a benevolent angel.”

“Oh for that, you’re not allowed to be released,” Keith backtracked.

“What?!”

Suddenly, a loud _bang_ came from the house and all three jumped, looking at the structure. No smoke or other dangerous signs were apparent, but they stayed still until Coran smacked the door open, dramatically stepping out in a bodysuit.

“What was that noise?” Lance called.

Coran paused, seeming disappointed that no one had commented on his decorative bathing suit. “Just the generator, it was a bit rusty so I had to smack it into cooperating,” He clapped his hands together for emphasis. “It’s back online. Everything is up and running now!” He explained, leaning from side to side before sprinting towards the lake and leaping in.

Shiro shielded Lance from the splash, turning so his back only got wet. “Hey Coran,” Lance stuck his head over Shiro’s shoulder, feeling like some kind of groundhog. “Wanna hear something great?”

Coran spit water from his mouth and restyled his mustache. “Yes, highness?”

“These two don’t know how to swim,” He giggled, sticking his tongue out in response to Keith’s glare.

Coran’s eyes widened. “I’d heard rumors that most Galra couldn’t swim, but I didn’t think it was true. Unacceptable! Line up, by the time I’m done with you you’ll be swimming like Ulirian Hoppers!”

Å Å Å

Shiro rubbed his forehead, pushing his tuft of white hair back as he walked over to Lance and Pidge who sat reclined in the hot tub. “Hey hot stuff, how’s Coran’s teaching?” Lance asked with a cheeky smile.

He knew all too well how demanding Coran could be. As soon as Coran declared himself the swim instructor, Lance had moved into the hot tub. Sure, that wasn’t the most noble move he could’ve pulled, but Lance was not going back to being Coran’s student willingly.

Shiro sighed, sticking his foot in the hot tub experimentally. “It’s been a while since I’ve been worked like that,” He admitted, slowly lowering himself in.

“Is Keith still going?” Lance craned his neck to watch Keith’s pathetic excuse for swimming. Granted, he was doing a lot better than he had been a few hours ago.

“Yep, Coran says he can’t stop until he’s able to swim ten feet without going under.”

Pidge snorted, grinning as they watched Keith failing. “He’s that bad?”

Shiro shrugged. “He’s always hated water, he doesn’t see the point to being able to swim.”

Lance hummed in thought. “I’ve got an idea. Hold on a tic.”

He pushed himself up out of the hot tub, grabbing a towel from a nearby stand and wrapping it around his shoulders. “Hey Coran! I’m gonna go try out a dinner recipe Hunk gave me, finish up with Keith so you’ll be free when I’m done!”

“Sure thing! You better make enough for seconds; these boys need to regain their energy!”

“I will,” Lance shot a thumbs up. “He’ll let Keith off the hook in a few dobashes now,” He said, turning on his heels and heading inside.

It wasn’t until he was in the kitchen that Lance realized he had absolutely no idea what to cook. His communicator was up in the room with his stuff, if he felt like walking all the way up there he could look through the messages between him and Hunk to see if he’d been sent any recipes lately. But Lance really didn’t feel like going to all that effort. Hunk didn’t often share his recipes, those were one of the few things he kept from Lance. Not that Lance was offended, he knew Hunk planned to release recipe books in the future, so he needed to keep them private.

Lance sighed, tapping on a screen to see what ingredients they even had.

All the basic nutrient groups were there, but not much variety. If he was better at cooking, Lance might have been able to think of something more complex. But with his current skills and knowledge, the best he could imagine making was a salad of sorts. There was a little meat and other sources of protein that he could throw in for Shiro and Keith and their carnivorous diet.

That sounded good.

Lance nodded, opening the fridge and beginning to take out ingredients.

As he finished setting out the food and was just about to start throwing everything into a large bowl, the door clicked open and Shiro stuck his head in. “Need help?” He asked.

“Nope, I’ve got things under control.”

Shiro nodded, standing in the doorway. “Can I join you anyway?” He asked after a few seconds.

Lance looked up, staring at the man who was still dripped on the floor with a towel resting around his neck. “Heck yeah! Just don’t drip on the food.”

“You got it.”

Shiro shut the door behind him, walking over and leaning against the counter to watch as Lance started throwing different things into the bowl.

The door burst open and Shiro spun around, lifting his right arm defensively, only to drop it as he recognized Keith standing in the doorway, shivering like a leaf in the wind with hair sticking in every direction.

Lance snorted and covered his mouth to block the rest of his laughter, grinning as Keith glared at him. “I need a towel,” He growled, kicking the door shut.

“How were swimming lessons?” Lance asked as Keith walked over to take the offered towel from Shiro.

“I hate it. I hate it. I’m never setting foot in that lake again. Never. There were slimy things, Lance. Seaweed, and I think a fish bit my toe off. How could you leave me with that hell teacher, both of you?” Keith ranted, scrubbing the towel into his hair.

“Coran used to be my combat instructor, I wasn’t going through that again.”

Shiro just shrugged with a guilty smile and Keith rolled his eyes, moving around the counter to Lance. “What’re you making? I didn’t know you could cook.”

“Hey, back off, you’ll get lake water on stuff,” Lance held out a hand, keeping Keith back.

“You’re pushing me away after all I just went through?”

“Yes, I don’t want the food to get wet.”

Keith frowned, almost pouting but Lance wasn’t sure if that was possible for Keith. There was a moment where Lance thought he had won, before there was a massive damp weight flopped onto his back.

“Quiznak! Keith, what’re you doing?!” Lance shrieked, stumbling forward as Keith collapsed on him.

“Not getting the food wet,” Keith said, a smirk evident in his tone.

Lance looked to Shiro for help, but decided from the grin pasted on his face that it was an empty hope. He rolled his shoulders, twisting around to face Keith. “C’mon cutie- mmf!” Lance’s eyes widened as Keith placed a sloppy, lake water-y kiss on his lips.

He pulled back in shock, staring at the shorter boy, his face on fire. “What- um, Keith, what was that?” He stuttered.

“That’s the first time you’ve called me an affectionate term,” Keith hummed with a grin.

Lance sucked in his lips, staring at the pleased smile stretching across his boyfriend’s face. “Okay, but lake water is dripping down your face,” He lifted his hands to the towel on Keith’s shoulders and started rubbing it into his hair.

Keith’s eyes drooped shut as he leaned into Lance’s hands. There was a scraping on the floor behind them as Shiro pushed out his chair out to walk over. Lance glanced at the taller man as he got closer. “I think he’s gonna start purring.”

Shiro chuckled. “It wouldn’t be a first.”

Keith’s eyes snapped open to glare at Shiro. “That was one time!”

Lance opened his mouth, staring at Keith wide eyed. “Really? You purr? That sounds adorable.”

“Shut up, weren’t you drying my hair?”

“Nah I wanna hear about this. Shiro, spill.”

Keith moved his narrowed eyes between the two of them, daring Shiro to tell the story and Lance to push for it more. Shiro stepped closer, sliding a hand along Lance’s lower back. “Well, if you get him relaxed enough and-”

“Shiro, I swear, I will kick you.”

“You know I don’t care about that.”

Lance sighed. “Someone either needs to tell me how to make Keith purr or break the tension built up here.”

“I vote for the second option,” Keith declared quickly.

“You’re biased,” Shiro teased. “But I agree.”

Lance barely had time to express his shock that his joke had been taken seriously before there were two (2) mouths on his lips. The counter quickly pressed against him as the other two pushed him back. Shiro attacked his mouth while Keith dipped his head to use his talents elsewhere; mainly on Lance’s neck. He didn’t know where to put his hands, or how to kiss Shiro back. He tried opening his mouth for air but that plan failed as Shiro’s tongue slipped in-

“Really guys? Right in front of the salad?” An exasperated voice came from the door.

Lance jerked his head away, looking over at who had spoken. His face instantly lit up like a fire as he recognized Pidge watching them with crossed arms.

“Um, this is just- uh, sorry?” He glanced at the other two who had barely moved and were keeping their arms around him.

“I had one rule!” Pidge stalked over to grab the bowl and the rest of the food that Lance hadn’t gotten to put in yet.

“You had three actually,” Keith pointed out.

Lance shook his head in an attempt to signal not to aggravate Pidge when food was involved.

“Close enough. You three are on thin ice now,” Pidge narrowed their eyes pointedly before opening the door and leaving.

Lance let out the breath he’d been holding as the door banged shut. “Kitchen is off limits, guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm Back!! woohoo  
> Working on this again was so nice, I missed my boys :')) Hope you all enjoyed reading this much as much I did writing it (were there too many memes?)  
> I can't say if I'll be able to keep my weekly update schedule, I joined a big bang and still have school stuff going so need to prioritize, but if I can write updates I will ^^


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> exactly what you'd expect for the first night they share a room

Keith frowned, staring at the digital recreation of his handprint. “Alright! Both of you can get in here now,” Lance declared, straightening up and clapping his hands together.

When he had started registering Shiro and Keith’s handprints in the scanner so they could get into their room, Lance had imagined it would take forever. However, despite his lack of technological skill, it had turned out to be a very short process.

“Cool,” Keith said, pushing his hand on the scanner again.

“Hey genius, you don’t need to do that, the door’s already open,” Lance sighed, nudging him with his shoulder.

Keith frowned, “I know.”

“Good night, highness! You sure you don’t need help with getting out the extra beds?” Coran called from down the hall, wearing a decorative night gown and holding a box of toiletries as he tucked mini curlers into his mustache.

“Yup! We’re all set! No need to check or worry,” Lance responded quickly, stepping in front of the doorway so it was harder to see inside.

“Very well. I must say, I’m very impressed by your willingness to bond with our guests and give them the best treatment. Keep it up!”

“Yeah, have fun giving them the royal treatment,” Pidge stuck their head out of their room to add with a smirk.

Lance bit his inner cheek in an attempt to stop himself from blushing. “Yeah well, night both of you!” He said before spinning around and dragging Shiro and Keith into the room.

“Man, Pidge is really good at those innuendos,” Shiro said once the door shut.

Lance nodded absent mindedly, taking a deep breath. “So uh,” He paused, his heart banging against his ribs. “Why don’t we get dressed for bed!” That hadn’t been what he planned to say, but they did need to do that before anything else.

“Good idea,” Shiro agreed, pulling off the shirt he’d borrowed from Keith.

Lance was surprised it didn’t rip.

“UM- I’m gonna change in the bathroom!” Lance squeaked as both Shiro and Keith started pulling down their pants.

He grabbed his night clothes and rushed into the bathroom, keeping his eyes trained on the floor so he didn’t see anything besides his feet. As the door closed, Lance fell against one of the walls, dragging a hand down his face. His entire body was tense, he was pretty sure his face had had a constant flush for the past hour and his heart refused to slow down.

“You can do this,” He mumbled to his reflection in the mirror across from him. “You’re a prince. You can handle fancy parties flawlessly, this is nothing.”

Now that he’d pumped himself up, he washed his face and changed into his night gown. He took another breath, staring at himself for a few moments before returning to the room.

Keith and Shiro were sitting on the bed talking and Shiro paused in what he was saying as Lance stepped in. Both were shirtless, Keith had on shorts while Shiro wore sweatpants. “Are those slippers?” Keith asked, squinting at Lance’s feet.

“Of course, I’m not a savage,” Lance scoffed in false bravado, frozen in place.

“Well, come over here with us savages,” Shiro hummed with a smile as his eyes roamed over Lance.

Lance inhaled shakily, taking a step before stopping. “I uh, need to talk to you guys, about um, stuff.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Wow, stuff huh? Sounds important and specific.”

“Ha ha, smart mouth, you know what I meant,” Lance retorted, feeling more relaxed and closing the distance between him and the bed.

“Okay,” He started, situating himself on the blankets. “Um, so, we’re all in the same room while we’re here.” The other two nodded. “And um, well, I know that has,” He cleared his throat and diverted his eyes, “certain implications, especially after that k-kiss earlier, but um, I just- I’ve never been in a relationship like this before, and um, I don’t know what I’m doing. Like, with any of it. I’m not so sure how uh, intimacy works- I mean I do! Technically, like I learned all about it and stuff, I just have never… done anything like that and, and…” Lance trailed off, staring at his hands as he twisted them together.

His head shot up as Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder. “That’s okay, we’re not gonna push you into anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“Yeah, it’s not like we really know anything about how this works,” Keith added.

Lance stared at him, confused, and Keith shrugged. “All we really know is how Galra court, and we’ve never courted anyone so we’re just as inexperienced as you.”

Shiro nodded, looking between the two of them. “If we say something suggestive, it’s mostly because that’s the only way we know how to show romantic affection.”

“Not that we don’t mean it, but yeah,” Keith glanced away. “I know I don’t really know any uh, non-sexual ways of expressing affection besides hugs and stuff.”

Lance smiled, relief washing over him. “I can help with that, I’m great at flirting.”

“We’ve noticed,” Shiro said with the softest blush Lance almost thought he was seeing things.

Keith nodded, tapping his fingers together, as if he were nervous. “And uh, we’ll figure that other stuff out together.”

“That sounds perfect,” Lance exhaled loudly, flopping onto his back. “Oh my god, I thought you guys were gonna laugh at me or something.”

Shiro patted his knee. “That’s not something we’d laugh at you for.”

“Nah, we only laugh at you when you do stupid things, like worrying about us laughing at you about this.”

“Shut up,” Lance grinned, kicking Keith’s stomach gently.

“Hey, that’s abuse you savage.”

Lance laughed, a weightlessness filling him. “Can’t stop me, I’m a prince.”

Keith grinned, grabbing Lance’s foot. “Time to overthrow you then.”

Lance was about to respond but gasped as Keith started running his fingers over the bottom of his foot. He rolled onto his stomach, laughing and trying to pull away. “No please! I’m gonna pee!”

“What?” Keith froze with a look of horror and Lance yanked his foot free, scrambling to get behind Shiro.

“Fooled you,” He teased, yelping as Shiro twisted around to grab and pull him into his lap.

“But now you’ve been caught, so who’s the real fool?” The larger man asked, smiling as Lance leaned against his chest.

“Obviously you, cause now I get to be held in your big strong arms.”

“Of course the prince gets the big muscly arms,” Keith scoffed, leaning back onto his arms.

“Obviously, there’s no room for mutineers after all,” Lance smirked.

After Keith turned his head away loftily, Lance grinned. “There is room for cuties though.”

“Then you shouldn’t be there.”

He gasped in offense at Keith’s comment, looking at Shiro. “Don’t ever let him come over.”

Shiro shrugged. “I’ll try, but there’s only so much I can do while holding you.”

“Ha! You lose!” Keith shouted, jumping onto Lance’s back and pushing the other two down.

Lance grinned as Keith’s weight pressed him against Shiro. “If this is what losing is like, then I’ll do it more often.”

“That sounds so cheesy,” Shiro commented, kissing Lance’s cheek before he could respond. “I agree though.”

Lance’s face flushed. “We should get to sleep, I need my beauty rest and you guys must be sore from all the swimming.”

Keith groaned, resting his chin on Lance’s shoulder. “Fine, but Shiro’s sleeping in the middle.”

Lance nodded along with Shiro, but even though all three had agreed to go to sleep, none of them made any attempt at moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay talking out insecurities and cuddling, what else do people do when they share a room and are dating


End file.
